Worth It
by XxGaarasGirlXx
Summary: What do you fight for?" "Myself, because as I see it, I'm worth it." Kakashi didn't know how right she was back then, it was just another snide remark. But when the two get thrown together in deadly missions, he sees just how worth it she really is.
1. What Do You Fight For

_'All good things comes to those who wait,' but something answers soft and sad, 'They come, but often to late'. -anonymous_

**XXX**

**What Do You Fight For**

**XXX**

What was he fighting for exactly?

He didn't know.

Every shinobi had their opinions. Most leaned toward the most obvious of answers. "We fight for the village." Or, "We fight to protect the Hokage."

Asuma had once spoke about fighting for the 'king'. He had just assumed he meant the Hokage, but maybe that wasn't quite right. Asuma had fought for many things, the Hokage was just one of them.

The silver-haired jounin fought for...**.** What?

The village. The Hokage. Comrades. Memories. His life.

What was all that worth in the end?

A successful passing? A memorable life?

It seemed unlikely. What was waiting for him once it was his time to pass? He had led an empty life. Throwing his mind and body into his missions, and fighting with a detached mind.

What was worth fighting for anymore?

Sasuke had gone to join the enemy in seek of power and revenge. Sakura had become a human shell after seeing to much of the world and having to much heartache -which was a pity considering she desevered so much more from life- from teammates falling in front of her innocent eyes.

Then there was Naruto. The one person everyone had looked down upon in his younger days and had hated him for something that wasn't his fault. The one person who had strived to get the village to acknowledge him. The one person that seemed to posses an unnatural power of bringing out the best in people.

The one person that had died at the village gates, screaming death upon an enemy that dared encroach on his land.

Naruto had died a true Hokage's death. The blonde had thrown himself in the line of fire, taking deathly blows, and had dragged the enemy down into the darkness with him from one kunai clutched in his numb hand.

And for what?

It all seemed to come back to that. What was the point of all the fighting and dying if it meant nothing when darkness over took your vision for good?

Everything had fallen apart, and he was lost, confused, and hurt.

Kakashi was a fine, strong, dependable, and loyal shinobi. Who would step in front of any enemy and fight for all he was worth.

Was he really?

He thought of himself as merely a pawn. One small, insignificant game piece in the chess battle of Ninja.

But what were they fighting for?!

Money. Orders. Missions. Duty.

Asuma had found the answer before he died, but it had been to late. Would he ever know? Or would he die in the line of duty without finding it out.

What a sad ending.

"Always knew you were the brooding type, Hatake." an arrogant female voice teased from behind him.

The sharigan weilder sighed, and glanced back at the spiky haired kunoichi grinning at him with her hands on her hips.

"Anko." he acknowleged her presence, wondering if she would leave.

Instead, she sauntered up to his side and ungraciously plopped beside him on the grass of the hill he sat upon. Her almond eyes flicked to the side at him before looking back out over the village.

"What's with the deep thinking? I thought you were on a mission."

"Just got back. I was relaxing." he replied calmly.

She snorted at his response. "I doubt that. With that look on your face, I'd say you were moping."

He gave her a lazy glare before laying down on his back with his hands crossed behind his silver head. "I wasn't moping."

The purple haired kunoichi snickered at him as she leaned back on her hands and crossed her legs indian-style. "Fine, we'll call it melancholy."

Kakashi rolled his one exposed eye but refused to respond. What was the point, she would just continue to pick at him anyway.

Though he did perfer her company over his wandering mind.

"How did the mission go, bag any villians?" she grinned back at him with a glint in her eye.

Sometimes that woman scared him.

"It was just a scroll retrevial mission. The ninja were hardly a challenge to defeat."

She mock pouted at that. "Damn, that has to suck, huh?" another grin.

He glanced at her before looking up at the clouds. She turned to face the village again.

Kakashi knew that Anko had been through a lot when she was young, probably things that shouldn't have been experience. What with being Orochimaru's student and all, it had to have been harsh.

He wondered what kept her fighting. What made her enjoy it. Or was she just following orders.

"Anko," he looked at her with his one dark eye.

"Hmm?" the kunoichi turned to him with a smirk.

He sat up and copied her sitting posture but instead let his legs spread out before him. "What do you fight for?" he asked in his calm voice.

"Is that what you were moping about, Hatake?" she chortled at him, her eyes dancing in amusement.

He sighed again. "I wasn't moping, and I'm being serious."

Her laughs dyed down to a grin that seemed, somehow, louder than her chuckles.

"Fight for? Hmm, well I'd have to say I fight for myself."

Kakashi turned to stare at her fully. "Yourself?" he questioned.

Anko nodded and met him stare for stare with her wide grin. "Yep, because as I see it, I'm worth fighting for."

She chuckled and stood from the ground. The silver haired jounin stared at the empty space, contemplating.

To fight for yourself? Was that something worth anything? Couldn't that just be fighting for pride and honor? He thought about it a second more and decided it was reasonable. To fight for honor, that seemed worth something in the end.

But then, who was the 'king' Asuma always talked about? It had signifiance to him, because if Kakashi could somehow link all the reasons for fighting together, would that be the 'king'? Or was it something completely different and out of his reach.

"Come on Kibishii, you need to turn in a mission report to Tsunade, and I need to find out when my next mission is. Talking about fighting has gotten me keyed up." she grinned cheekily down at him as he frowned.

"I don't see how calling me 'grim' will serve any purpose Anko." he translated as he rose to his feet and stood next to her.

"Until you change the mood, your Kibishii." the purple haired kunoichi sneered and turned to walk down to the Hokage building.

Kakashi sighed, and put his hands in his pockets as he followed the sniggering kunoichi back to the village.

That woman could be really bothersome when she wanted to be.

* * *

**Now, before you kill me and throw me to the wolves for not updating my stories, set down the pointy objects... there you go.... now listen kitties.**

**Your probably thinking, "If she had enough time to write this, then she should have enough time to write for her other stories!" Well, that's true, _but _I wrote this at 1:00 in the morning on a whim without much thought. I have been writing for my other stories, and by the way it's damn hard writing for more than three at a time and now I have added this... and to think I actually used to get two chapters out in one day.... Anyway, my point is, plot bunnies won't leave me alone.**

**I will update my stories, working on them as you read this. I'm sorry I keep doing this guys, but technically it's not my fault. It's the cute little ideas and plot bunnies's fault, so blame them. **

***holds up sharp kunai* If you plan on trying to kill me, keep this in mind. 'If you review for this, I will give you a cookie.... and besides, if you do kill me, I can't update can?'**

**Sooo, press that button!**


	2. You're Getting Slow

Chapter 2

"The mission was a success. Good. You're dismissed."

Kakashi turned at the wave of the Godaime's slim hand.

As his fingers enclosed around the doorknob, Tsunade's voice called his attention.

"Kakashi, get some rest. You look sick."

The silver haired jounin tilted his head back and stared at the Hokage with his one exposed eye. Her hard gaze stared him down as she folded her hands under her chin. "I need you at you're strongest, I have a feeling things are going to be getting difficult for a while." she smirked at him.

Kakashi gave her his most convincing eye-crinkled smile. "It's nothing we can't handle, Tsunade-sama." He nodded to her as he slipped out of the room.

Though Naruto had passed some time before, he still found it somewhat difficult to look at the Hokage's domain without feeling a sharp pain in his chest. It was sad how the blonde had finally gained the title after Tsunade stepped down, only to lose it protecting the village that had once shunned him. Tsunade took back the seat, not allowing anyone but herself to claim it.

He jerked away from the thoughts. It wasn't time to think about things like that. He needed to get back to the confines of his room.

His plan was to go home and rest, just as Tsunade had suggested. Besides, he really needed it. This brooding mood he was in wasn't doing anything for him expect sending him into a spiral of depression. He wanted the familiar walls of his small apartment, the quietness that surrounded his home, and the company of silence.

However, the moment he looked up at the figure leaning against the wall opposite him, he knew those plans were shot down violently.

"Don't give me that look, Kibishii," Anko gave him a cheeky grin. "It seems I don't have any missions for awhile and I'm in need of a sparring partner."

He gave her a lazy stare. "My day's filled up, why not try Genma?"

The silver haired jounin tried to sound remotely sorry that he couldn't join her in a spar, but it came out flat. Her grin grew and it put him on edge as he eyed her warily.

"He chickened out. Izumo and Kotetsu are running errands for Tsunade, and you were nearest to me." she sounded highly amused.

"Lucky me." Kakashi deadpanned.

The spiky haired kunoichi laughed and walked up to his side. "Aw, I'm flattered Kibishii. Now come on, I feel stiff." she rolled her shoulders for emphasis.

He was about to decline and 'poof' away like he always did, but one look at those dangerous almond eyes had him rethinking that plan. He tried a different tactic. Kakashi took a small step back, and quicker than a snake, Anko flash stepped behind him with a kunai pressed to his lower back.

"Come on, Hatake. It's only a spar." she cooed in his ear. "Are you that afraid of losing to me?"

He snorted and glanced back at her. "Hardly, Anko." he replied dryly.

"Then let's go play." she grinned before quickly forming a hand seal and disappearing.

Kakashi rolled his exposed eye before following suit. Why not? It's not like it would kill him anyway.

**XXXXXX**

"You're getting slow Kakashi!" Anko teased as she back-flipped into the air while dodging Kakashi's thrown shuriken.

Said male smirked from under his mask as he jumped after her, taking her by surprise, and gripped the back of her trench coat to manuever her in a downward spiral to the grass covered ground.

"Never let an enemy behind you, Anko." he mock chastised as the ground came closer and closer.

With a quick jerk, he pushed away from the woman while at the same time forcing her faster to the ground. As his feet touched the earth, he took a few jumps back and tensed.

As Anko hit the ground, a loud poof resonated as the body switched to a splintered log. His exposed eye quickly flicked around the area, looking for the real Anko.

A blur of color flashed before his eye as a swift kick arched in the air aimed for his temple. Kakashi's hand gripped Anko's ankle in his left hand, while his right arm blocked the kick from connecting with the right side of his head.

The purple haired kunoichi smirked at him. "Heh."

Kakashi quickly dropped to the ground and, with a sweep kick, knocked her off balance and crashing to the earth.

A muffeled 'umph' broke past her lips as she lay flat on her back.

Kakashi knelt down next to her with an eye-creased smile. "I think this means I win."

Anko scowled up at him. "Don't be so quick to judge." A smirk flashed onto her features as she made a hissing noise.

Fast as lightning, Kakashi jerked back and to the side in a roll to dodge an open-mouthed snake. The reptile barely skimmed the fabric that covered his face before landing on the ground and disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

The kunoichi rolled on top of the famous copy-nin, effectively straddling him to the ground. Her cheeky grin spread across her face as she looked down at him, holding a kunai at his throat.

"On the contrary, Hatake, I believe I win this match." she crooned.

He stared up at her lazily. "We both know we are evenly matched, so technically, no on has won."

Anko frowned down at him as she lifted her kunai to her lips and ran her tongue along the cool metal. Kakashi's eye followed the movement before looking back at her bright almond orbs.

"Then we will just have to see who _can_ win one day." she smirked and pocketed her weapon. "But as for today, I win."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." his monotone voice replied.

She snorted at him and crossed her arms over her busty chest. "It seems you have trouble admitting defeat, Koinu."

He frowned up at her for calling him a 'puppy'. "What did I do for that one."

The spiky haired kunoichi's lips curved into a sly grin as she leaned down to his level. "Because you are making a puppy pout."

He rolled his one dark eye and raised a brow at her. "I'm hardly a puppy, Anko."

She laughed at the hardly noticable innuendo, and sat back up on his form.

"Now, if you don't mind, I would like to go home."

"Going back to those hentai books, huh, Koinu?" She teased. "I thought your day was full."

He gave her his eye-creased smile. "It is. I'm going to go entertain myself with _romantic literature_ while I get some needed rest." he encinuated his words, making sure she knew that his books weren't perverted, but romantic novels that were misunderstood.

"Uh-huh. Whatever helps you sleep at night." she threw his words back at him as she stood and stepped off to the side.

Kakashi stood from the ground and dusted off his flak jacket and standardized jounin pants.

"Ja ne." Kakashi gave a mock salute before disappearing in a cloud of smoke as Anko turned and walked away from the training grounds with a satisfied smirk on her lips. After all, she had won a spar against the famous Copy-nin.

**XXXXXXXXX**

Once in his apartment, Kakashi opened his piece of 'literature' as he fell back on his futon.

He only read the first few sentences before he was fast asleep with the orange book covering the bottom half of his masked face.

Finishing a mission, traveling back to the village in two days, and sparring with Anko caught up to him quickly, and he didn't fight off the exhaustion. He couldn't have even if he had wanted wasn't until the next day that he awoke, stiff, sore, and not feeling any better than when he had collapsed on his bed.

* * *

**_Well, I'm kind of in a writer's block for my other stories so I thought I would update this one. In the next chapter there will be bad langauge, so if you don't like swear words.... to bad for you I guess. Anyway, please review and let me know what you think of this story. _**


	3. Merchant

Chapter 3

**XXXXXX**

His brow furrowed as his awarness peaked. His body protested to him awaking, but he knew he wouldn't be able to go to sleep. The slumber had been enough to give him back his strength, and that's all he needed.

One of his hands rose to his forehead protecter and gracefully pulled it away to set it on the widowsill above his head, next to the pictures of two different teams.

Kakashi cracked open his right eye, keeping his sharingan eye closed, and glanced at the clock on the wall.

_3:30 a.m._

Closing his eye again, the Copy Nin let an almost silent sigh escape his cloth covered lips before he forced himself to sit up on the futon. He raked a hand through his spiky silver locks and stood to make his way to the wooden dresser across from him.

A shower at three in the morning might not sound appealing to most, but considering he wasn't getting back to sleep any time soon, it presented a relaxing aura. Besides, he hadn't been to the memorial stone since he had arrived back in the village....**.**

In one hand Kakashi clutched a set of fresh clothes while the other was used to open the bathroom door and close it behind him. Depositing the clothing on the sink counter, he turned the knobs on the shower faucet to almost burning hot.

After stripping of his clothes, the silver haired jounin stepped into the hot water and let the steam envelope him.

It felt good, letting the hot water seep into his skin and unknot the muscles. It was calming, and provided distractions from his mind. Kakashi forced himself to concentrate on how the liquid ran over him, warming him in an almost reassuring way, allowing him to relax for the first time in... was it three days since he left for his mission?... it didn't matter.

Silver strands of hair plastered themselves against his smooth face, and he leaned against the tile covered wall under the faucet. The water cascaded down his lean back, and he shivered slightly from the intense heat that abrubtly chased away the cold that was clinging to his skin a moment before.

Kakashi finished his shower up quickly after the water lost some of the heat, and dressed in his usual jounin attire, minus the vest and sandals. He didn't bother putting his headband back on just yet.

Without taking much time, he wrapped his calves and arch of his foot in the white bandages before making his way to the kitchen for a quick cup of tea. He had never really been much of a breakfast type of person.

**XXXXXX**

"That's the merchant that we need to intercept. Sources say he is packing a scroll that has diagrams of the Leaf Village." A rough looking man pointed down at a caravan being pulled by an ox from his perch on a high, steep, slope.

"How vital is this scroll exactly, Kiken?" An equally battle worn companion questioned gruffily, eyeing the caravan with a look of mild annoyance.

The man known as 'Kiken' turned to his partner fully with gleaming eyes and a murderous smile. "Bakudan, this information could be enough to start the next Great Ninja War ."

Bakudan's eyes slid back down to the traveling merchant that was just passing under them, and sly grin curved his scarred lips. "The Tsuchikage will be pleased with this." he mused.

Kiken looked at the target as well with his smile growing. "Very. Now, let's go."

Both ninja formed handseals and slammed their open hands onto the ground. Immediatly black calligraphy spread from the palms and glowed a deep red. As the ground shook under them, Kiken nodded to his companion as he jumped down toward the target, kunai glinting in his hand.

Bakudan watched with a wicked smile as large solid boulders rose from the earth, effectively blocking the merchant's exit and cornering him like prey. Nodding at their handy work, the man soon followed after his partner to aid in raiding the caraven and obtaining the scroll that would surely put them on the new Tsuchikage's good side.

**XXXXXX**

Anko threw yet another dumpling stick at the tree by her side as she chased down the food with a gulp of hot tea.

As she glanced over at the leaf village symbol she had managed to make with the dumpling sticks, she smirked in accomplishment. As far as she was concerned, it took a damn lot of talent to pull that off.

Well, at least she could believe that. Some people just need an ego boost every now and then.

The spiky haired kunoichi stood from the log she had currently been occupying and brushed off her brown skirt and coat before straightning her fishnet shirt and shorts.

"Now, something to keep me entertained...." she mused and glanced around the open area she stood in.

There was nothing in her view aside from the dancing grass and swaying trees. Anko frowned and turned to head into town. "God damn it, I need some missions." she growled as she exited the field and headed toward the bustle of the crowd.

**XXXXX**

People didn't understand why he spent so much time at the memorial stone, and he knew that they probably never would. Mostly due to the fact that they had no idea what kind of past that stone had etched into it's granite surface.

It bore the names of precious lives, dear friends, and old scars. A friend that had sacrificed himself, who had so much promise and even more compassion, was now just a name on a stone. A master that had killed himself to protect the village, had passed on his teachings to his willing students, was now only markings on rock.

He hated it sometimes how he was the only one that was alive. He envied them. It was his fault that Obito was dead. Why Rin was gone to. _He _had put them in harm's way. _He_ had broken a promise.

Kakashi blamed himself for their deaths, and punished himself by guilt ridden thoughts. By not going to the hospital, even if his wound was fatal. And by standing in front of that stone, staring at the names of people he once knew, and forcing himself to relieve every tortous moment that led to their demise.

The copy nin knew that it was probably killing him on the inside, but it didn't bother him. Why should he have the chance to live, breathe, and see the world, when they couldn't? They deserved it more than him any way.

"I will be back tomorrow, Obito." he promised in a low voice.

The silver haired jounin turned around and walked slowly away from the stone with his hands stuffed in his pants pockets.

Once back in the heart of Konoha, Kakashi let his mind wander away from the painful memories and focus on not running into the afternoon shoppers.

"Oi, Kakashi!" a voice called his attention.

The silver haired jounin tilted his head back and caught gazes with none other than Iruka. The scarred ninja smiled widely at him, and crossed the road to Kakashi.

"Iruka." Kakashi nodded and gave a slight smile that lifted the mask to show the movement.

"How have you been? I haven't seen you in a while." Iruka scratched the back of his head while giving his friend a warm smile.

Kakashi shrugged lazily. "Fine really, just been busy with missions."

Iruka nodded slightly before glancing behind him. "Kurenai, Ibiki and me were going to get some drinks. Would you want to join us?"

Kakashi thought about it for a moment, and almost declined the offer. Besides, he had other things to do, like reading Icha Icha.

But then, it seemed like a good idea to get out. He hadn't spoken to anyone in a while, well, besides Anko, but that was more of sparring more than anything and not chatting.

He almost perfered the sparring over human company, but it was needed. At this rate, he would become a hermit before he died. And that didn't seem to inviting.

"Yeah, sure." Kakashi gave Iruka his creased smile and followed him to a small restruant where he could already see Ibiki and Kurenai. It seemed a little odd to see the ANBU torture master out and about, but he supposed everyone needed fresh air every now and again.

**XXXXXX**

"Bakudan! Did you get the scroll?" Kiken asked in one breath as he scrambled up the slope to stand next to his partner.

Bakudan took in a deep, needed, breath before he replied, "Yeah...got it. We didn't plan on that civilian being a fucking ninja." he seethed.

"That doesn't matter now," Kiken snapped as he swiftly snatched the scroll from his companion's rough fingers, earning a scowl from him in return. "What matters is that we got the scroll and can head back to Iwagakure."

Bakudan nodded stiffly as he glared down at the broken man that had driven the caravan. He had put up a good fight, and would have won had it been a one-on-one fight. But, it was two against one and the shinobi had fallen to his death, choking on his own blood as one enlarged sharp rock spike peirced him straight through.

The man smirked smuggly at the body before spitting harshly at it as an act of superiorty. Kiken rolled his eyes at his partner before turning and yanking on Bakudan's shirt.

"Let's go. The sooner we get back to the village, the sooner we can get this scroll to the Kage." he growled.

Bakudan turned and followed Kiken as he jumped and sped through the tree tops at a quick pace.

"We better hurry then!" Bakudan called out to the leader.

Kiken turned his head slightly to get Bakudan in his vision. "Why?" he snapped.

Bakudan pointed a finger at the sky and drawled. "Gonna rain soon."

"Shit. I hate the rain."

* * *

**So, this is the third chapter and the plot starts to unfold here. Just to tell you, I don't own Naruto or the characters, except Kiken and Bakudan. They are mine. The plot is also mine, I didn't take this from the manga, this is all coming from my head.**

**Also, thank you SkywardShadow, greensapphire and tree leaves! Your reviews are greatly appreciated. It really helps me write the next chapters! I hope you liked this chapter!**


	4. Lucky is Unlucky

Chapter 4

**XXXXXX**

Yamato Tenzou stared up tiredly at the gates of Konoha. How long had it been since he was last here? Days? Weeks? Had it been a month already? It seemed decades ago that he had walked the streets of his home.

Would it be different now?

He doubted it. Everything and everyone moved on in the end. No matter what one of the people had seen. What _he_ had seen.

Yamato had been assigned back to the ANBU after the fall of Team Seven. With Naruto dead, Sakura a walking shell, and Sasuke's continuous betrayl, he had been removed from them, and forced back into his previous accupation.

Kakashi-senpai worked solo now, and as far as Yamato saw it, that's the way the Copy Nin wanted it. It even seemed he had closed himself off from others. Of course, no one had really noticed.

To the majority of Konoha, it would appear that Hatake Kakashi was not really affected by the break up of his team. But, to someone who had worked under him, who had substituted for him on that very team, who had looked up to him as an mentor, hero, and friend....knew better.

Kakashi hid it well, but he was human after all. No matter how he tried to turn himself into an empty body of what he used to be, Yamato knew. He knew that Kakashi blamed himself.

But what could he do?

Kakashi was a proud man. One that didn't let others in on his suffering. And as much as the wood-user hated seeing his friend do this to himself, he couldn't interfere. It would just make it worse for Kakashi to know that someone understood his silent pain.

So he let it be.

Yamato sighed warily and walked into the village, unnoticed, and made his way toward the Hokage tower with his masked face hidden from everyone's view.

He jumped across the roofs silently and attempted to block out the bloodshed of his latest mission.

It had been especially hard this mission. An assasination, which in and of itself wasn't difficult, it just so happened that the person that needed to be killed was a little girl merely eight years of age.

He hated killing children. But maybe it had been better for her. The child's parents were already dead by other enemy ninja, and the poor girl knew to much. She had seen to much of what the enemies were planning, which caused them to target her family.

She was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. And if he hadn't been assigned to deal with her, the ninja that had killed her family would've come after her and done God knows what to the poor girl.

Still, it tore at him that he had taken the life of an innocent.

_"Am I in trouble, Mister? Is Mommy and Daddy mad at me?" _

_Shining sapphire eyes stared up at him as tears streamed down the child's rosy cheeks._

_"No, you're not in trouble."_

_"Is Mommy and Daddy coming for me now?"_

_"Yes."_

_"When will they get here?"_

_He closed his dark eyes behind his mask to block out her pleading, wide-eyed gaze. It was times like this that he regretted his line of work. But he knew he would never abandon it._

_It was in his blood now, a part of him. It was who he was._

_"Mister?"_

_She had no time to react, no time to feel pain, as a blade sharp as hate pierced her small chest and broke the skin on her back, striking her all the way through._

_The only sound was one choked noise of surprise, and the drip of innocent blood as it fell in tear drops of red to the unforgiving wooden floor._

Yamato shook his head violently and dropped to an empty roof close enough to see the Hokage's tower.

With one swift jerk of his hand, the wood-user yanked off the mask to cradle his head in his hands. Slowly he leaned against one of the pillars on the roof and slid to the ground with his knees up.

"Forgive me."

Was the whispered plea that rang from his lips as the face of the child floated in his mind's eye. He couldn't remember a day when it had been this difficult to be a ninja.

**XXXXXX**

"Are you sure that you have to go, Kakashi? There is still enough time for a few more drinks." Iruka gave him a hopeful smile and waved a hand at Ibiki and Kurenai behind him who smiled and nodded in agreement.

Though Kakashi could still see the hollowness in Kurenai's gaze. She had been that way since Asuma's death was announced.

Ibiki just stood emotionless, a flawless stoic mask. What else could be expected from a torture specialist?

"Maybe next time. I have some things to take care of." the Copy nin shrugged at them as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.

Iruka sighed, but smiled at him. "Okay then. See you, Kakashi."

"Ja ne." the silver haired jounin gave a mock salute before turning and walking away from the small gathering.

It had been comforting being with his comrades. Iruka updated him on what he had missed, while Ibiki spoke offhandly about different torture strategies he planned to use on test subjects.

Kakashi shuddered slightly as he walked. _That _was a conversation he would rather not dwell any longer on or refer back to any time soon.

Throughout the little 'visit', Kurenai had seemed distracted. Of course that wasn't really what had caught Kakashi's attention. It wasn't just that she was distracted -more than usual- but that she had absently been rubbing her abdomen as she sat there....

Kakashi sighed and pulled out his Icha Icha book as a way of escape into something familier.

He was immediatly swept into the pages of his book, and he allowed himself to relax slightly. Comforted by the fact that no matter how many times he read the book it wouldn't change. It was something solid in his life, something that would not fade away from him or die.

Silly to think that a book could do this for him, but when you had lost so many things and didn't know if reality was going to slip through your fingers at any given moment, it provided a small sense of strength.

Or maybe it had to do with the fact that this was the very book that Naruto had helped write in his genin days when training with Jiraiya-sama....

With a frustrated sigh Kakashi snapped his book shut and replaced it back in his weapons' pouch. It seemed that it was going to be one of _those _days.

**XXXXXX**

"There has to be _something_ open, not all the fucking missions are completed!" Anko growled as her eyes narrowed at the woman before her.

"As I said before, Anko," Tsunade entwined her fingers under her chin. "I'm keeping you on stand-by."

The spiky haired kunoichi hissed viciously at the blonde. "Why the hell are you not letting me go."

"Because I need you close incase of an emergency." Tsunade snapped.

Anko snorted. "What emergency? The village is peaceful and there have been no threats made. Everything has been going fine."

Tsunade reached into one of the drawers in her desk and pulled out a handful of colorful papers. "Here," she snapped and flopped the papers onto the desktop. "Look at these."

Anko eyed her with a confused and aggrivated air as she snatched the papers from the desk and proceeded to skim the contents.

With an irratated noise, she dropped the papers back to the desk. "What are you getting at? These are just a bunch of lottery tickets that someone has gotten lucky enough to win-..."

Anko's eyes jerked quickly to the piercing hazel gaze of the Godaime Hokage as she stopped mid-sentence. Tsunade's eyes narrowed and her face went grim.

"Those are your tickets, aren't they." Anko stated and nodded at the papers in question.

Tsunade nodded. "Yes. And they are all winners."

"With you being the legendary sucker, this has to be bad news."

The blonde glared harshly at the female ninja across from her.

"So now what? Are we going to just stay here like sitting ducks, or are we going to start preparing?"

"We can't do anything yet considering we have no idea what, if anything, is going to occur. If we start to prepare we could be preparing for the wrong thing, putting us at a serious disadvantage." Tsunade sighed. "We will just have to be patient."

"Like that will go over well with the other ninja here." Anko scoffed.

"The only one I'm worried about is you. Out of all the jounin here, you seem to be the only one that gets fidgety and antsy if you are out of commission for more than two days." Tsunade stood from her desk and leaned against the fine wood. "Can you refrain from tearing about the village if I don't send you out?"

Anko rolled her eyes and rested her weight casually on one leg. "I think I will be able to deal." she replied with a lazy glare.

Tsunade smirked evilly. "Good, because as I see it, I believe it will be few weeks before I send you out of the village again."

A shriek of outrage and disbelief rang out from the Hokage tower, startling a few birds on a powerline and setting them into a frenzied flight.

**XXXXXX**

Shizune flinched as the enraged cry echoed around the room she stood in with an ANBU member.

"I'm sorry, Yamato-san. Maybe it would be better for you to come back by later, Tsunade-sama seems to be busy with someone else right now."

Tenzou removed his mask and reached into his weapons' pouch to pull out a scroll.

"Can you deliver this to Hokage-sama then? It is a full documentation of my mission and its' success." he asked tiredly.

Shizune accepted the scroll and smiled apologetically at the male. "Of course. I'm sorry that you can't see her personally, but from the sound of it, she might be awhile."

He nodded. "That's fine, I was hoping to head home now anyway."

"Thank-you, Yamato-san. I'm glad the mission was a success." Shizune dipped her head to him before turning and walking briskly toward the Hokage's domain.

When the young woman glanced back over her shoulder, Yamato was gone and the hallway was silent and empty.

**XXXXXX**

"Fuck!"

"What is it?"

Bakudan wiped his forearm over his eyes and face frustratingly as Kiken glanced back at him, only to quickly look foreward again when his foot slipped on the slick bark of the wet treetops, almost causing him to fall.

"I can't see in this damn rain!" Bakudan snarled.

Kiken rolled his black eyes. "Just deal with it you little shit. We have to put some distance between us and the merchant."

"I don't see why, we killed him anyway. It's not like he is going to resurrect himself and come after us." the roughened ninja muttered as he caught up to his leader.

"Back-up. He could have back-up if he doesn't show up at his designated point in a certain amount of time." Kiken snapped and stepped up the pace.

Bakudan growled under his breath as he wiped his eyes again attempting to clear his vision.

Kiken narrowed his navy colored orbs in an act of trying to see through the downpour. It didn't help. His fists clenched at his sides as he leaped from branch to branch. The Tsuchikage had better be happy when they handed over the scroll, because this damn rain was the biggest pain in the ass.

He _hated _the rain.

* * *

**Took forever didn't it? Well, I was gone to a camp so I have an excuse. See, I was going to update this story everday or every other day. Something like that, but that didn't happen when I went to camp since I wasn't allowed to bring my laptop with me. But anyway, if you will go to my profile and read my UPDATES, they explain everything. So please do that. PLEASE. And if you have any questions about what I wrote (story or on my profile) feel free to PM me and I will answer. **

**So anyway. Please review. It really helps me, so just please press the button. I want to know what you guys are thinking about this story because I have big plans for it. And read my profile to. Just dew it. (I don't own Naruto or the Mountain Dew slogan) ^__^**


	5. Silent Storms and Haunting Nightmares

* * *

Chapter 5

**XXXXXX**

The rain began to thin out slightly, making it easier to see. Kiken let an evil smile graze his features. This made it all the more easier to navigate out of Fire Country and back into his home lands. It seemed that Kami was on his side today.

"Are we going to stop for camp or just run the whole week to the village?" Bakudan demanded as he pushed his black locks away from his face to glare at his leader.

Kiken tilted his head back toward the lesser ninja and his smile vanished. "Do you see any dry spots around here?! There would be no point in stopping unless you wanted our supplies to get drenched." he snapped.

Bakudan frowned and averted his gaze to his feet as he jumped from branch to branch. Would it be so difficult to perform some basic jutsus to manipulate the surrounding boulders into a shelter? Why was Kiken so dead set on getting to the village quickly?

The ninja's frown deepened as his eyes flicked to the back of his leader's head. Something didn't feel right.

**XXXXXX**

As she stood there, rain fell from the heavans and drenched her and made the world blurry and unrecognizable. Not that she would recognize it anyway. She hadn't noticed things for awhile now. Everything was empty and colorless. Everything had lost its' life.

Or was that just her?

Yes, that was it. Her. She was the one that was dead. No. Undead.

She died, but continued to breathe and see. Not that she wanted it that way. She wanted to be fully gone. Not just withering away day by day. If she had it her way, she would be lying in the ground, finally at peace and suffering no more.

What she was forced to live through now was just torture. A constant reminder that she was the only one still here of what her past used to be.

The last remnant of Team 7 aside from its' sensei, Hatake Kakashi.

Haruno Sakura.

Who was that?

Was that her?

....Or what she used to be?

Haruno Sakura was dead. Had been nothing more than a memory for some time. That name. That person. That _life,_ was gone.

What was left was nothing more than an empty body. One that hungered for things lost, and weeped for the past.

It had been this way since....since....

"Naruto."

The whispered plea of sorrow and sadness wrapped around her frame, enveloping her in a cocoon of her own misery.

Once vibrant emerald eyes, now dull and lifeless, stared down at a stone marked with a name. A person's name that she missed and ached for.

It killed her sometimes, when she thought back on her genin days, that he had loved her but she had been to selfish, to greedy, to ever acknowledge it. She was always so caught up on Sasuke.

And she hated herself for that now.

Sakura dropped to her knees in front of the gravestone and bowed her head as silent tears mixed with the rain on her pale face. Her slim hands dropped to the ground, nimble fingers buried themselves in the earth to clench into fists, dragging back out of the wet ground covered in the mixture of tears, rain, and mud.

"I...I'm s-sorry."

The holes in her heart throbbed and stung as she thought of how she could never apologize to him. How she could never ask for his forgivness for never loving him back. How she ignored him and beat him down. How she couldn't even find his body after the attack.

Only his headband. The very headband she kept in her weapons' pouch to remind herself of him. He was gone, but as long as she had that, she could believe that he was alive with her.

She could believe that, with every breath she took, his lungs were breathing in with her. That everytime she touched the cool glass of a wet windowpane, his strong hands were pressing on the other side, passing warmth into her.

And that everytime she opened her eyes to see the world around her, his warm, loving, bright cerulean eyes that used to look at her with so much hope and strength, stared at the vast land around them with contempt.

All she could do was imagine. Her only escape was in herself.

**XXXXXX**

Kakashi stared dejectedly up at the grey sky with a slight frown. It was late afternoon now and he had just left the grocery store with a bag of bread in one hand and set of new ninja tools in the other.

His best kunai had been damaged while on his last mission and he had needed to take it the repair shop. Deciding he needed more tools anyway, he had picked up a set after dropping off the damaged goods.

Sighing, the Copy Nin looked straight ahead again and continued his walk to his apartment.

After a few minutes of sloshing through the deserted roads, he paused in his walk to watch a very frustrated looking Anko stalk toward his direction.

Her almond eyes were narrowed dangerously and her arms were crossed over her busty chest. Water splashed away from her after every step she made, allowing it to look like her anger was parting the muddy streets for her.

The silver haired jounin's lips twitched slightly under his mask in amusement. It wasn't everyday that Anko let something get to her, and by the looks of it, she wasn't to happy about something.

"Nice day isn't it, Anko?" Kakashi teased cheerily as she drew close enough to him.

Her sharp eyes jerked to him as her glare intensified. "Beautiful." she snarled.

Kakashi chuckled at her wet person. It was humorous the way she stood in the rain with her spiky hair slightly limp and clothes hugging her even tighter.

"Someone must have pissed you off pretty bad for you to be this worked up." he commented.

She rolled her eyes and shifted her weight to the other leg. "No shit. But it doesn't just include me."

Kakashi tilted his head. "Oh? Then who and what is making you so angery."

Thunder rumbled across the sky, momentarily lighting the grey sky to a bright blue. Kakashi glanced up at it before looking back at Anko who was looking at the sky with a death glare.

"Would you like to continue this inside?" he asked and nodded his head at his apartment which was just a few doors down.

Anko looked over her shoulder at it before grunting in approval and turning on her heel to walk to it. Kakashi sighed and followed, wondering why he even asked. He was hoping to read some more before relaxing and settling in for the rest of the rainy day that was getting closer to night.

After walking to the door and opening it -quicky moving out of the way as Anko almost stepped on his foot on her way in- Kakashi dropped his purchases on the counter in the kitchen before throwing a towel to Anko and drying himself off.

Dropping the towel in a basket by the laundry room door, he turned back to Anko to find her drying her face off. Her trench coat had been abandoned by the door on a wooden chair, and she stood in her fishnet shirt, leather skirt over fishnet shorts, and shin guards in his living room.

His one exposed eye roamed over her exposed body, taking in her fit form. Water droplets fell from her hair and skin to little puddles on the hardwood floor. His eye followed one water trail as it made its' way from the edge of her shorts to travel slowly down the length of her tone leg.

"There aren't going to be any missions for awhile, Hatake." her voice rang throughout the room, breaking him from his little daze.

"Hmm?" he asked as he tore his gaze away from her legs to look at her just as she turned to him with the towel in her hand.

"I said there won't be missions for awhile." she repeated as she threw the towel to him. He caught in out of reflex and tossed it over his shoulder to join the other towel. Noting that her scent clung to the fabric of it. Woodsy almost. Like the forest after a fresh rain.

"Why are there not any missions?" he asked as he crossed the floor, dropping his vest next to her coat on the chair, to sit down on the futon. She sat cross-legged beside him.

The spiky haired kunoichi growled as she folded her arms over her chest and slumped back into the cushions. "Tsunade."

Kakashi glanced back at her as he slipped off his sandals, hers had been disposed of by the door, and kicked them under the table.

"Tsunade banned snakes in Konoha?" he guess.

Anko snorted and glared at him. "She's putting us on fucking stand-by for a few weeks because she won the lottery five times."

Kakashi stared at her in silence, going over what she had told him. Tsunade? Winning something? Well, that wasn't good in the least. If anything that promised trouble. And five times? Whatever was coming had to be bad it she had gotten lucky for a total of five wins.

Weeks? Perfect. He didn't like being cooped up any more than the next ninja. What was supposed to be keeping them busy during the weeks? If the Hokage was pulling back the strongest ninja, the training fields would constantly be occupied with them letting loose.

Kakashi's shoulders drooped and he turned to stare at the wall in front of him.

"My thoughts exactly." Anko drawled from beside him.

His gunmetal eye glanced back at her. "I'm guessing you attempted to chew her ear off for this right?"

She smirked at him. "More like an arm and a leg."

He chuckled as she laughed with a dangerous grin. This woman was unpredictable. He wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if Tsunade had to call chakra to her ears to block out this kunoichi's yells of rage.

Kakashi breathed out heavily as he tried to think of what type of trouble was brewing. He reached up and removed his wet headband to put it on the coffee table in front of him with a muffled 'chink' when the metal tapped the surface.

Just as he was about to relax into the softness of the furniture to contemplate on how he was going to work on training for the next few weeks, he felt Anko stiffen beside him. He immediatly stiffened in response and glanced around the room for something out of place.

When he found nothing, he looked back at her with a confused frown. "What is it?"

Her brow drew together as she looked at him, and her bottom lip jutted out in a pout. He stifled a chuckle. "What?" he repeated.

"What about the mask?" she demanded.

His dark colored eye widened slightly while keeping his sharingon eye closed. "What about it?"

"You took off your headband, take off the mask of to." she gestured at his covered face.

He did chuckle at this, and smirked underneath his cover. "I don't think so, Anko."

Her frown sharpened. "Why not?" she snapped.

The silver haired jounin put on the most innocent expression as he replied, "Well, I don't like to talk about it much, but I am a very shy person and- "

"Oh shut it, you stubborn ass." she interrupted his lie with a growl. He smiled at her from underneath his mask. "That has to be the worst lie you could use."

He feigned hurt. "I can't believe you would think I'd lie to you, Anko."

"Keep doing that, Koinu, and I will not hesitate in gutting you." she said in a low voice as she glared at him, a smile tugging at her lips.

He rolled his one eye and grunted at her. "I thought we've already been through this. I am far from a puppy."

She grinned cheekily at him. "You're right, we'll just call you 'Kitten' then."

The spiky haired kunoichi laughed outright at his look of disgust at the mention of those hellish mammals.

"I'd rather be Koinu if that's my only other option." he replied dryly. She nodded smugly at him.

"Good choice."

**XXXXXX**

_"Am I bad, Mister?"_

_"..."_

_"Why are you here? Did those mean people send you? Are you going to kill me? Huh, Mister?"_

_A young child began to cry as she stared up at the blank mask of a strange man. Who was this man? Where did he come from?_

_"Am I g-going to d-die?" _

_Wide, innocent eyes overflowing with tears continued to look up at the man. Small hands fisted into the material of her shirt above her heart. _

_Yamato could do nothing. He was forced to watch from the far wall as he saw the scene play out before him. He knew what was coming. He knew what that man was going to do. _

_The actions and words were different, but the scenario was the same. He knew who was behind that mask, attempting to hide from the child before him. He knew what that man was doing there and why he was there._

_That man was him. Yamato Tenzou was hiding behind that mask._

_Yamato Tenzou struck the blade through the child's chest. Yamato Tenzou killed an innocent. Yamato Tenzou was splattered with crimson blood. _

_He was watching himself perform an act of unforgivness._

_He closed his onyx eyes tightly as screaming started, trying to block out himself stabbing the young girl. This hadn't really happened, he didn't make her suffer. Why was she suffering now?_

_He flinched and jerked back as the screaming increased in pitch. _

_She continued to cry out as the scene before him bled away and vanished and was replaced by black nothingness. It was dark everywhere. No light existed here._

_He could still hear the child go on with her screams. Screaming and screaming and screaming and screaming and screaming._

_He stumbled backwards and hit a wall, causing him to crumble to the floor. His hands clamped down over his ears, attempting to block out the cry of pure agony errupting from the vanished girl._

_It was all around him, everywhere. The screaming could not be blocked out, forgotten, or ignored. _

_"Stop! Make it stop!" he wanted to yell, but his lungs failed him. _

_He felt out of breath, weak, exausted. Like he was the one dying. Like he was suffocating._

_It was then that he realized he was the one screaming out. His cries of distress echoed around him, scratched at him, cut at him, stabbed at him. He couldn't stop._

_He was fueled by an unknown fear. A cold and terrifying fear that gripped its' cold hands around him, strangling him. He was trapped and caged in the confines of his own darkness and nightmares. Contstantly yelling out widely for something, anything, to be there. _

_Anything but the feeling of hopelessness and death and the presence of the innocent lives he had taken. _

_He folded in on himself, looking everything like a lost child, but still continued to scream. His cries wrapped themselves around him like a blanket of anguish and sorrow, choking him and making his cries more desperate._

"NO!"

The sudden freedom to awaken and move on his own jerked Yamato from his bed and to the floor in one swift movement. Sweat trickled down his face, and his shirt stuck to his toned chest where sweat had gathered.

His breathing was labored and heavy as he glanced around the room swiftly, looking for anything out of place or different.

Sensing nothing amiss, he pulled himself from the floor slowly to sit on the corner of his bed. His brown locks of hair fell over his dark eyes as he cradled his head in his hands.

As he attempted to catch his breath, he wondered if he had really been yelling while sleeping. He glanced over his shoulder at the mussed sheets. The were in tangles, as if he had been fighting of something in his dreams.

_BANG, BANG._

"Yamato! Open the door!"

The ANBU memeber stood swiftly from his bed and stepped into the hallway to stare at the entrance to his apartment.

"What.." he breathed as he walked stealthly down the passageway toward it.

"YAMATO! Damn it, if you don't open the door, we will BREAK it down!" another voice yelled out.

There was a shuffling noise on the other side as a yet another voice started to argue with the second.

"No, don't break the door down! What if he's under attack?" the person tried to whisper.

It was silent then.

That is, until the wood-user's door came flying off it's hinges in a loud and ear deafning crash. Yamato side stepped a few stray wood chips and blinked when three figures ran into his apartment room with weapons drawn.

"Izumo, go to the back! Kotetsu, you check the bed-..."

The person barking out instructions halted immediatly after lights flickered to life, bringing everything into focus.

Hazel eyes blinked owlishly at Yamato as he dropped his hand from the light switch and stared at the extra persons in his home. Three of them, all haggard looking like they had just rolled out of bed.

"Y-Yamato? You're okay?" Genma asked in disbelief.

The ANBU member shifted his confused gaze to the senbon weilder. "What?"

Izumo stepped over the broken door, pocketing his kunai, and stood in front of Yamato.

"We heard you yelling from down the hall." he said and glanced back at his two companions. Kotetsu stood next to his friend.

"Sounded like you were being tortured in here, what happened?" he asked as he adjusted the bandage on his nose.

"I...I...don't remember." he sighed and averted his eyes to the window.

It's not that he didn't trust them, but he was a ninja. An ANBU. Killing someone shouldn't affect him like it had. He was a battle worn shinobi, and seeing death was just a daily thing for his line of work. They wouldn't understand, and he didn't want to be looked down upon as weak and unable to perform his part as a protector of the Leaf village.

Genma's sharp eyes glanced around the room before resting on his fellow shinobi who looked even more worn out then himself. He wasn't telling the truth, it was obvious. But it wasn't his place to pressure him to tell either.

"But you were yelling like Hell's gates opened." Izumo declared as Kotetsu nodded in agreement.

"I don't remember." he replied more forcefully and took a careful step back. Eyeing the broken door the entire time.

Genma rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he rolled the senbon to the other side of his mouth with his tongue. "How about we help you set that back up, then tomorrow you can go to the shop and get a new one, eh?"

Yamato nodded and moved to the gaping hole in the wall where his door used to be. After helping the other three prop it back up against the frame, he turned to them and stretched his arms over his head just as Izumo yawned.

"It's late, and the door's fixed. And there isn't any enemy attacks. I'm going back to my own apartment." Kotetsu waved lazily as he turned and headed down the stairs.

Izumo scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, that doesn't sound half bad. I'll see you guys in the morning." he went down the stairs to and turned the opposite direction of Kotetsu.

Yamato rubbed his eyes sleepily before turning back to Genma, who was rubbing the senbon in his mouth thoughtfully. His eyes glanced up at the wood-user before looking back at his weapon.

"Guess that's my que to leave then." he smirked at Yamato who nodded at him and moved away from the broken door, giving him room to leave.

Just as Genma was half way through the door, he paused and looked over his shoulder at the other man.

"You know....those yells sounded pretty desperate. Almost like you were dying. I'm sure one of the local shops have some medicine for nightmares." he sighed before leaving a stunned Yamato standing before the door.

Yamato watched as Genma disappeared from his view before looking down at his hands. They were rough and calloused, but unstained from the blood he had seen in his dream. It was as if it never happened, though he knew it had. It was burned into his memory.

A screaming child. Him screaming.

He shook his brown covered head and turned for his bedroom. Although it was very unlikely that he wouldn't get back to sleep, he could at least try. If anything, he could relax his muscles and breathe evenly for awhile.

Kami knew he needed it.

* * *

**So I updated again. It seems this story will not leave me alone, and I love it! I have so much fun writing this story. Here you got a glimpse at what is happening to Sakura, and a little more Yamato. Kakashi and Anko to, of course. And we can't forget Izumo, Kotetsu, and Genma. Got to love those guys.**

**Sooo, you know what to do. Please review for this story. I'm proud of it, and I want to know what everyone else thinks about it to. So just please review? Oh, and don't forget to read the updates on my profile. As always, if you have any questions about this story or my others or anything, just PM me and I will do my best to answer, okay? **


	6. Midnight Plannings

Chapter 6

**XXXXXX**

Kakashi blinked as he began to wake up. He hadn't been asleep for more than a few hours. Two at most. Anko had left after the storm had subsided, mainly the rain, and had left him with nothing else to do but read through his books. He almost missed her teasing air.

He had even gotten bored enough to summon his nin dogs, but they proved to be lazy company. After raiding his kitchen of food they had moved on to the futon and had promptly settled down and fallen asleep in the most noisest way possible.

There was nothing more annoying than the loud snores of nin dogs. Especially after they had been engorged with food from _his _kitchen.

The silver haired jounin sat up in his bed, and pushed back his blanket. A muffeled 'thunk' and startled yelp of surprise informed him that he had just sent one of his companions toppling to the floor.

He rubbed the back of his head nervously while giving the dog an apologetic grin from underneath his mask as the victim rose slowly from the floor. After propping it's small paws on the mattress, it proceeded to glare angrily at it's master.

Kakashi laughed nervously. "Oops?" he tried.

The small dog merely snorted at him before dropping off the bed and stalking to the otherside of the room. Once a fair distance from the Copy Nin, the dog sneezed in distaste at him again before leaping to curl up on the back of the biggest dog, Oushi.

Kakashi sighed in defeat before standing from his bed, after making sure no more dogs were in the line of harm, and walked out of the room to the main part of his apartment. Yasei, one of the larger dogs that had grey fur and wild look in his eyes, followed at his heels panting. It seemed he was laughing at the fortune of the victim dog.

The silver haired jounin rolled his eye and pulled out a bowl from the cabinet to fill with water before sitting it on the floor for the feral looking, but most gentle, dog at his feet. The dog growled his approval before eagerly lapping up the liquid.

Kakashi watched him for awhile before glancing out the window at the night sky. Clouds were gathering on the horizon.

'More rain?' he thought with a slight frown.

The moon was bright and full as it cast silent shadows upon the dewy ground. It appeared to be ghost fingers stretching across the earth, and he glanced away from it, unsettled by the thought.

Two big paws jabbed the jounin in his abdomen while he was distracted, and brought him back out of his daze with an 'umph'.

Yasei, with his paws resting on Kakashi's stomach as he stood on his hind legs, panted with a wolfish grin at his master. The Copy Nin chuckled and ruffled the wolf-dog's ears playfully, getting a slight bark of content from the canine.

"Think we can try to get some more sleep?" he asked the dog, earning a yip of agreement as it dropped to the ground.

Kakashi nodded to himself. He needed the sleep -terribly- and as he made his way back to his bedroom, he was glad he made the decision to summon his dogs. Yasei was the best one to use an extra blanket.

That, and the dog was very protective of his master. A fly would be lucky enough to get past him. Which meant no disturbances and peaceful dreams.

**XXXXXX**

Anko pressed the pillow closer against her face, breathing in deeply the smell of fresh linen. She would deffinatly have to thank that kind old woman that insisted on treating her like her own daughter. She was to nice.

The spiky haired kunoichi groaned in content as she rolled on her back, releasing the pillow and staring at the ceiling. The moon's glow reflected off of the wall's and let the room have a shining soft look.

It seemed so peaceful and blissfull. Enough to make anyone want to lay down and relax.

....Anko frowned sharply and growled.

How exactly was she supposed to keep herself fit while on fucking stand-by? It was bullshit. Tsunade knows how capable a ninja she is -dangerous and deadly to- so why not let her do missions? It's not as if she couldn't handle it.

The kunoichi would probably dismember the enemy before they even had the _chance_ of getting at her. Before they even thought about it. So why keep her back?

Oh, right. To have the strongest ninja at hand. To immediatly kill off the enemy, quickly and easily. Wasn't that what ANBU was for? Why didn't the Hokage just send off an elite team of them to search the area? To look for any signs of odd activity?

Anko sat up in bed and looked down at her bare legs, hardly covered by the material of the standard jounin shirt she never wore but to sleep in. Shivering slightly, she pulled the sheets up past her thighs and glanced out the window.

She could suggest that to the Hokage. To send out and ANBU search and destroy team. And of course volunteer herself to go along. As back-up.

But then, they would need more than just one person to serve as back-up, wouldn't they?

The kunoichi scratched her cheek thoughtfully as she sighed in slight irratation. Who could she take as back-up with her? Someone she got along with -Ha!- and someone who's jutsus and style of fighting complimented her own.

Not to mention, if she was going to get a back-up squad, it would have to be a four man cell team. But then ... back-up would have to be good. And four people that needed to scout, fight, and watch they're own backs plus the backs of each teammate .... wouldn't it be better to take more than three with her?

Why not a five man cell team? Her plus four others. Surely there were enough shinobi in the village for that. Considering that Tsunade were holding them back from missions, everyone should be here, she thought bitterly.

Anko narrowed her eyes calculatingly. Who were four people she good relatively deal with for a period of time?

The held up four fingers in front of her face and started to tick off fingers as she named a few.

Kakashi. He was the one that she could stand the most. The silent, brooding, distance giving shinobi gave off the air of confidence and could calm you down pretty quickly. Not to mention he was an elite ninja. Excellent fighter, good enough to get himself in the BINGO book. He even had his nin dogs which could be vital in tracking and scouting ahead if the need should arise.

There was Shizune, she thought as she put a second finger down. Though she wasn't all that sure that Tsunade would be willing to release her assistant for an extended mission. She could recommend Sakura....**. **No, bad idea. It would best if the Blossom stayed in the village for the time being. Even if it had been about a year now since Naruto's death, the wound was still fresh and pulsing. Besides, Anko didn't know how capable she was out in the field yet.

Before Naruto's death, Sakura had been a very powerful kunoichi. She was trained by Tsunade herself. But, now she was distracted, and that was not a very good thing out on the field. It could cost Sakura her own life, or one of the team's lives. To risky, she decided with a curt nod.

Izumo and Kotetsu?

Anko shook her head with a teasing grin. Tsunade would _deffinatly_ not part with her two favorite errand boys. It would be a miracle if she even let Shizune go.

Shikamaru? Nah, he was an extended mission in Suna. Though he would be coming back soon though, Tsunade had mentioned she needed his brains. But he would probably still be gone by the time the team she wanted to create dispatched.

Genma was good. The cocky bastard could grate your nerves, yeah, but he was a skilled shinobi. And that's what counted. She needed to form a team that would compliment the other's skills. That was the best route to take. And hadn't he been on a mission with Shizune before, fighting some of Orochimaru's pawns? Anko ground her teeth together at the thought of the man who had put her through hell, but quickly shook it off. It wasn't the time or place for that.

Genma and Shizune had also been on that mission with Namiashi Raidou, who wasn't that bad of a shinobi. If she remembered correctly, he had put up a hell of a fight that day against the sound ninja.

Anko nodded her head with a cheeky grin of satisfaction. "Kakashi, Shizune, Genma, and Raidou." she named out. "We'll even have a medic-nin with us."

The spiky haired kunoichi whipped the sheets off herself and swung her bare legs from the bed to bound across the room to her door. Her excitement built as she went over all the plans in her head, the strategies, jutsus from each person, and weapons available.

It seemed fool proof! Her grin grew bigger as she fumbled with her shin gaurds and ninja sandals. Now all she needed to do was talk to the people that would be the back-up with her, get them to agree, then face the Hokage with five capable jounin. There was no way they would say no.

They were shinobi after all, and none of them could stay idle in a village for long. If the ANBU went out first, and the jounin sent out the next day, twice the ground could be covered! Hell, nothing could slip by them if Tsunade agreed to this.

After strapping her shin guards in place, Anko quickly yanked open the door and leapt out into the night. Kakashi was the first stop, and he would -should- agree quickly. She knew that he didn't like staying put in the village for long.

All he needed was to visit the memorial, and he would be ready to go.

In her excitement, Anko completely forgot that she was only wearing her underwear and one single standardized jounin shirt.... For someone who dressed in fishnet and a skirt, it was a common mistake....maybe.

**XXXXXX**

"Kiken, the ground isn't wet here, we can set up camp." Bakudan called from beneath the limbs of the huge trees surrounding them.

The leader shinobi dropped to the ground with a scowl, irratated that his lowly partner wanted to stop. If they could just keep going....

"Look, at this rate neither will be of much use if we come across some other ninja." Bakudan frowned at his partner. "We need to rest. At least for a little while."

Kiken scoffed at the man. "Bullshit." he spat. "You're just getting weak. At this rate it will take twice the amount of time to reach the Fire Country's border."

"If we don't rest, it will only slow us down." Badudan shot back.

"You're pathetic!"

"I know my limits and how to survive! I know that if we keep going like this, we will either fall into an obvious trap that a genin could spot or pass out from exhaustion on the way!"

"I'm the leader of this mission. I say we go!"

"We CAN'T go if neither of us has the strength!" Bakudan threw his arms at his leader in aggrivation. "Look at you, you're even breathing hard! At this rate we will deteriorate our muscles and even our resevers of chakra!"

"Bullshit!" Kiken waved a dismissive hand angrily. "We're going so-"

"We will be of no use to the Tsuchikage if we get to the village completely exahausted." Bakudan said in a steady, calm voice.

One thing he knew about Kiken was that he was deathly loyal to the Kage of their village. Something he couldn't be. The man that had replaced the previous Tsuchikage was a menace to the village. To the country.

He was power hungery. And Bakudan knew that would be his downfall. Kiken's to if he continued to follow the Kage's every wish like a lost puppy. It was sickening at times.

Kiken grinded his teeth together before tossing his pack to the ground and glaring harshly at Bakudan.

"Well?" he demanded. "What are you waiting for? Go get the damn wood for a fire!"

Bakudan sighed as he dropped his own pack and headed into the forest to search out dry firewood. As he walked away, he could hear Kiken muttering curses and threats to himself as he formed handseals to form a shelter for the night.

His stomach knotted at the uneasy feeling he got having his back turned to his leader. The longer this mission lasted, the more his trust was slipping for Kiken. He could almost taste his own death approaching in the near future.

He shuddered and began locating firewood.

* * *

**Do you like it? I wonder what will happen to Anko.... Oh come on you know running out side dressed like that could happen. The woman wears fishnets and a skirt for crying out loud! Anyway, let me know what you think of this chapter. **

**And, you know if you don't mind, you could suggest this story to other people. I really want to know what people think of it. I think it's good, and I'm having a lot of fun writing for it. Big, big plans for it. Plots and twists and romances galore! So click the button please with sugar and all the hottest Naruto guys on top (coughGaaracough) and more sugar!!!!**


	7. Unexpected Visitor

Chapter 7

**XXXXXX**

Anko stood in the middle of the street as one hand smacked her forhead harshly. Frowning, her sharp eyes looked down at herself and glared at her clothes. At least, at the single shirt she wore that reached the middle of her toned thighs. Her shin guards only came to her knees.

"Damn it. This is just stupid." she growled and pushed her sleeves to her elbows.

After glancing around quickly she jumped to the roofs and began running swiftly to her destination. It was to late to turn back to her own home, and besides, it's not like she didn't wear much more than this in her usual attire.

And she did need to speak with Kakashi, Shizune, Genma, and Raidou before the night was over. If that went well, and they all spoke to Tsunade in the morning about the plan, then walla! A mission pretty fast. Hardly any time on stand-by, which would be a relief.

The spiky haired kunoichi narrowed her eyes slightly. That all depened on when, if Tsunade agreed to the mission, they would be dispatched. If the ANBU team was sent out a day later, then the back-up would be held for about a week, giving the search and destroy team time to look around.

Anko growled and picked up the pace.

With an almost silent crunch of gravel beneath her sandals, the kunoichi stood in front of the door that she had exited hours before.

She glanced down at her clothes again, and shrugged. No use whining over spilt milk.

**XXXXXX**

Yasei's ears pricked foreward as he lay curled up on the bed next to his master. His bright yellow eyes stayed closed in his half-sleeping state as his ears flicked back and forth, attempting to locate the source of noise.

A rap on the door brought his head up quickly and he gazed out of the bedroom. A gutteral growl rumbled deep within the canine's chest, and immediatly brought Kakashi out of his sleep.

The jounin sat up in bed and looked around blearly, his mismatched eyes attemtping to focus on his surroundings. Yasei looked up at him before stepping off the bed and stalking toward the door, snarling harshly while he walked.

The other nin dogs continued to sleep, unbothered by the interruption.

Kakashi sighed and stood from the bed, disgruntled from being awoken from a sleep that felt like the most relaxed to date. He immediatly adjusted his mask that had fallen to his neck in his slumber, and absently rubbed his bare chest in an attempt to relax the stiff muscles.

Yasei barked from the door and growled threatningly. Kakashi rolled his odd colored eyes and walked to the door, running a hand through his messy silver strands.

"Heel." Kakashi demanded quietly to the wolfish dog, who obeyed as soon as the word left his lips, and moved away from the door and promptly sat on his haunches.

He stared at the dog lazily as he opened the door, watching as the canine's eyes glinted with mischief and humor. The jounin wondered what he found so amusing.

Kakash's mismatched eyes slid away from the nin dog to see who was standing at his door at two in the morning.

The first to come to his attention was that Anko stood in his doorway with an impatient look in her almond eyes and a grin that mirrored Yasei's. He tensed in response to that smile. He knew she was planning something.

His eyes then slid down and took in her choice of clothing. Or lack there of. The jounin shirt that she wore was riding up on her hips, giving a good view of her longs legs. Strong and slim, he noted. Her shin guards barely reached her knees, and were scuffed from the run to his home.

He quirked a silver brow at her and met her gaze curiously. At least he would have, if she wouldn't have been staring at his chest. The silver haired jounin glanced down and remembered that he wasn't wearing a shirt. Only his mask.

Kakashi smirked from underneath his mask and coughed to catch her attention. "Anko?"

Her eyes rose back to his and she looked at him impatiently. "I need to come in."

He nodded and stepped aside, effectively making sure his feet were away from hers in case she saw fit to stomp them like she had almost done earlier that afternoon. She walked by him briskly and stood behind a chair with her arms crossed over her chest.

The was a silence that ensued, and he glanced around before locking gazes with her again. He blinked when she continued to stare at him, and she leaned foreward the slightest bit. Yasei panted in the corner, his eyes flicking between the humans in the room.

Kakashi cleared his throat and tilted his head to the side. "What did you need, Anko?"

Her eyebrows drew together and she spoke in a low voice, careful almost. Like she was treading on dangerous grounds. "I've never seen your sharingan before."

He stared at her from across the room. His gaze hard, borderlining cold. She drew up and lifted her chin defiantly, not allowing him to stare her down.

Kakashi didn't mean to look angered, but the mention of his sharingan was enough to make him grimace. It always reminded him of Obito's last words.

_'Now we can see the future together, Kakashi.'_

He averted his gaze to the ground, pinning his gaze to the carpeted floor, and closed his blood red eye. The silver haired jounin sighed and returned his eye to Anko who was frowning at him.

"Is that all you needed tonight?" he gave her a reassuring smile, letting her know that he didn't mean to look so harsh.

She blinked and allowed a small grin to twitch her lips. "No. I have some...." she scrunched her face in thought. "...business to go over with you."

"Oh? What kind of business?"

Anko shook her head slightly and smirked. "First, lend me a pair of you pants, then we'll talk."

Kakashi smirked underneath his mask. "Business first."

The purple haired kunoichi frowned sharply and stepped out from behind the chair, balling her fists up tightly.

Kakashi knew it was probably dangerous to provoke her, but she was asking for it really. What with her coming to his home dressed in nothing but a shirt. That was just begging for jibes at her ego and pride.

How could she forget clothes anyway?

"As much as I know you would like to ogle my legs all night," she smirked dangerously. "I have other people to visit besides yourself, and I don't feel like running all the way back to my damn apartment."

Kakashi pushed himself away from the wall and tilted his head at the kunoichi. "You caught me, I want to stare at you untill my eyes fall out. But, since I don't want any other person to have that privilege, I'll lend you something to wear." he sighed heavily and, drooping his shoulders, walked down the hall to retrieve her some clothes. He smiled slightly when her laughter reached his ears.

He took his time as he dug in his drawer, looking for his smallest pair of pants. Eventually Anko ventured into his room and sat on his bed, watching him as he continued his search.

"Not much of a pack rat I'm guessing." she said off handedly while adjusting her shin guards.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't see the point of keeping something that just takes up space."

The kunoichi nodded and sat up. "Agreed."

With a grunt of satisfaction, he pulled out the smallest pair of relaxed pants he had, and tossed them to her, which she caught easily. Anko kicked off her sandals and shin guards before starting to pull the pants on.

Kakashi turned around to give her privacy, and pulled on one of his sleevless undershirts with an attached mask. He easily pulled off the mask that wasn't attached to his shirt without exposing his face, and tossed it to the side.

He turned when Anko let out a frustrated noise, and fought not to chuckle at her appearance. Though the pants were his smallest, they were still big on her, and she was holding them up at the hips with her legs spread apart while she tried tying the drawstrings tight.

However it proved to be difficult trying to tie it with one hand and she growled while glaring up at him as if it was his fault.

He shrugged lazily and crossed the room to her. "Hold them up while I tie it."

Nodding she released the drawstrings and held the sides of the pants on her hips. Kakashi stepped closer to her, he could feel the heat coming off her body, and the slightest of shivers ran up his spine. It was to small to notice.

He frowned as he tied the drawstrings in a tight knot, and they still fell low on her hips. Grinning she shrugged and patted his gut.

"Time to step up the training?" she teased

He rolled his one eye and raised his shirt to expose his muscled abdomen. Anko's grin wavered before returning with a glint in her eye.

"I don't believe that I need to step up anything." he said as he grinned under his mask and dropped his shirt.

She lifted one shoulder and dropped it nonchantly. "Maybe your right." she waited until he turned away and walked to the dresser to fix the jumbled mess before adding, "But I swear I saw some extra weight on you just then."

The spiky haired kunoichi strutted out of the room with a sly grin on face, and chuckled when she glanced over at Kakashi who was frowning at her. Rolling his eye, he followed after her, refusing to let her jibes get to him.

Once back in the main room, Kakashi joined her on the futon and cupped his chin in his hand while resting his elbow on his knee. Turning a lazy eye to her, he said, "So what kind of business are you talking about exactly?"

She grinned cheekily and replied, "You don't want to be on stand-by for long do you?"

"Not particularly....especially if I'm losing muscle." he added and mock pouted at her.

Anko outright laughed. "Kami forbid Kakashi lose tone."

"It would be a sad world." he agreed with a look of amusement.

Over the next few minutes, Anko proceeded to explain her plan. From the ANBU search and destroy team, to the second dispatch team of back-up consisting of themselves plus Genma, Shizune, and Raidou.

Kakashi listened openly, interested in what she had to say. It seemed very helpful, and considering the lottery tickets Tsunade had won, the plan was put into even more consideration. As she went into details of locating abnormal things, his excitement began to build.

He was itching to go out on a mission, and how long had he been home now? Two days? Three? Long enough. On missions he didn't have time to brood. He didn't have time to think of what had happened in the past.

Doing that could cause someone to die, so you had to stay focused. Keep a clear head and keep in mind your target and goals. Look at the mission from all different angles and search for flaws in each plan. There was no room for anything other than the mission.

He nodded as she finished up, her eyes bright and excited. It was obvious she was wanting to get out in the field to.

"And if we do happen to find something amiss, like say rogue ninja, we can some fun." she grinned dangerously and he almost shivered from the muderous gaze she had. Instead he chuckled nervously.

"That's depending on the Hokage's orders. Maybe she wants to bring them in for questioning." He gave her his crinkled eye smile. "Would you be willing to steal Ibiki's fun?"

She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. "No. For all I know he could stick me in the torture chambers if I stole his victim."

Kakashi chuckled. "True."

"So? Are you willing to back me up when we speak to the Hokage?" she asked and leaned foreward slightly.

He pretended to think it over a few minutes, just until he saw impatience clouding her almond eyes before grinning and replying, "I believe I'll go along with this."

The spiky haired kunoichi grinned cheekily at him before standing from the couch. "Good, now I have to go recruit the others."

Kakashi stood to and grasped her shoulder in his hand, preventing her from leaving. She turned toward him with her brow furrowed curiously.

"Anko, it's 3:00 in the morning. I don't think they will appreciate you assigning them a mission when they are not even fully awake yet."

The kunoichi blinked and turned to look at the clock on the wall. Her eyes widened slightly and she turned back to him. "How long have I been here?"

He shrugged and released her shoulder. "A few hours at most."

"Damn." she sighed. "I was hoping to get to everyone in one night, that way we could all speak to her in the morning."

Kakashi thought for a moment before calling her attention again. "Since Tsunade-sama doesn't arrive at the office until rather late in the morning, we could brief the others before she arrives. Shizune-san is at the office before anyone, correct?"

Anko nodded, a grin growing quickly on her lips. Kakashi's lips twictched in response. She reminded him of a child with a new toy. Or, in her case, a rather large package of dango sticks and dumplings.

"Then we can catch them in the morning, brief them, head to the Hokage tower, inform Tsunade-sama, and hope that she will agree." he ticked off the list.

"That sounds perfect." she crowed and rocked back on her heels, grinning widely. "Oh, Kakashi?"

He met her almond gaze, and took a fraction of a step back. She was smiling innocently at him, and with Anko, that had to be bad. Very bad.

"...Yes?" he answered hesitantly.

"You know, my apartment is so far away, and since we will both be going to the same place tomorrow, don't you think it would be nice if I slept over here for a few hours?"

Kakashi blinked and stared at her. Where was the threat of death? The kunai at his throat? Was Anko actually _asking _for something? Did she really just _ask _for something? It had to be a joke.

The silver haired jounin pinched himself and flinched at the sharp sting. Anko was still smiling at him, looking like an innocent woman. He knew better though.

"I...Sure. That would be....good." he answered slowly, wondering when the traps were going to go off and he would fall into a pit full of venemous snakes.

It didn't happen. Instead she grinned cheekily and plopped down onto the futon. "Thanks. I think I'll try to get some sleep before we tackle the Hokage."

He stared at her minute before asking, "Would you rather take the bed? I can sleep there - "

"No, this is fine. But a blanket would be good." she cut him off and smirked up at him.

He nodded and went to retrieve a blanket from his closet. When he entered the living room again, Anko was half way asleep already, and he smiled slightly underneath his mask. Spreading the blanket over her form, he chuckled and turned to go back to his room where his nin dogs continued to sleep.

He would have to train them better. They were the worst of watch-dogs.

Kakashi stopped when something enclosed around his hand. Looking back, he was met with Anko's half-lidded gaze.

"Just so you know....I'm going to get that mask off you...soon." she yawned and smiled before closing her eyes again.

He laughed slightly. "Others have tried, and all have failed." he sighed and thought of his Team 7 days.

"But I'm...not 'others'. I'm different." she managed before she slipped into sleep.

Kakashi stared down at her for a long moment. Thinking over her words. Yes, she was different. He could actually stand her company for long periods of time without getting fed up or wanting to slip away. Her teasing was enjoyable, and provided entertainment when you could manage to get her riled up.

She was a volatile, dangerous, capable, and strong kunoichi. Worthy of the title of a Konoha Ninja. Someone that, once you got to know them better, could be better company than others. She was also the type of person that, once having accepted your friendship, would die trying to save you.

They had a few things in common. Especially when it came to that.

The jounin turned and went back to his bedroom to get some sleep. Yasei curled up beside him, and eyeing the woman lying contendly in the apartment.

Though the wolfish dog didn't understand humans aside from his master, that sixth sense that helped him get the feel of a human was softened around that woman. He could tolerate her.

Underneath her rough exterior, even the canine could sense what a kind person she was. Soft hearted. Deadly, yes, but he could tell in the way she held herself that she was true-hearted human.

Yasei even understood that sometimes, qualities like that could lead to the person's downfall.

* * *

**So this was supposed to be out earlier today. I have sort of stuck to the schedule of updating this story every other day. Hopefully I can keep to that. But anyway, please review and let me know what you thought. By the way, what are your favorite couples? I have some in mind for this story, but there are a few I'm not sure about. Before you start naming the people from the Rookie Nine, keep in mind this is mostly a story about the Jounin. So I don't know exactly who I will bring in from the younger ones. I know that Gaara and his siblings will be in this, as well as Baki. Ah! Baki! Who is good with Baki?**

**There you go. Please be so kind and press that button and leave a review as well as a few pairings and someone for lonely Baki. He needs some loving. ^_^ Thank you!**


	8. Betrayl Of A Shinobi

Chapter 8

**XXXXXX**

_It was dark. The room smelled of old sweat, blood, and suffering. It choked her lungs, like she was drowning. Smothering her with every gasp of air she attempted to take in._

_Sweat poured off of her as she trembled on the ground. Another agonized scream ripped from her bruised and dry throat as pain shot through her small body. Again and again it throbbed, making her thrash from side to side._

_The curse mark. It was on fire, she knew it was. The pain was unbearable, tearing at her skin, scorching and scarring her body. Knives of flame cut at her back and neck where the mark resided. She could almost imagine long jagged lines from the blades of fire._

_"AAAHHHH!" she cryed out as loud as she could, hoping that somewhere someone could hear her pleas and come save her. Take her away from this place and the bitter sting of betrayl and pain._

_Her body wrenched to the side as she tried to get away from the pain, though she knew she couldn't. It was just better than lying there and taking it. _

_White hot fire burned her skin and she screamed as she threw herself to the ground, her fingernails were digging into the floor and leaving trails of blood as the texture of it tore her flesh._

_Still the pain did not leave. Her hands flew to her throat as she clawed at the curse mark, scratching and drawing blood. Streaks of it ran down her shirt and stained her pale skin as she screamed in anguish as the torture wracked through her._

_The ache throbbed and burned to such heights of unbridled pain it was a miracle that she was alive._

_"I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU WANT FROM ME!" she screamed at nothing. Her voice filled with pain and hatred._

_It was all to much. She knew she would die, knew that she would never see the outside of this prison, this cell, ever again._

_He had locked her in this suffocating place to watch her die slowly, because he took pleasure in that. She was nothing more than an experiment. A test subject._

_She wasn't meant to live._

_Her small hands fisted into her short, spiky hair as she screamed as loud and hard as her lungs would allow. Her breath left her quickly, and as she tried to regain it, she began to gasp and choke on the musty air._

_She crumpled in a heap on the hard floor, the pain throbbing harshly. She was just too exhausted to scream anymore. Her face contorted in pain as strangled noises broke past her lips, but otherwise she suffered in silence._

_"You're pathetic, Anko. And here I thought you would be the only one that _would _survive." a silky, venemous voice floated in the air._

_She closed her eyes tight and bit back a scream at the increase in pain and agony. His presence was enough to make the burning knives turn to stabbing blades that cut her all the way through instead of slashing at her skin._

_His footsteps echoed as he got closer. A strangled cry erupted from her chest as the pain spiked. Laughter filled the room. Easy laughter, smooth and reassuring...if it hadn't come from a snake._

_"G-get away...FROM ME!" she yelled past the pain as her eyes shot open and tried to focus on the extra person in this nightmare._

_He continued to laugh. The images blurred together and she couldn't focus her eyesight. Her eyelids drooped more as the colors began to bleed together, and she groaned in pure agony at the pain stabbing through her._

_"It's sad really, you would have been such a good tool to use." he crooned as he knelt next to her crumpled form._

_She hissed out a breath and attempted to glare at him before giving up and closing her eyes again. The pain was taking over now, everything was going black. The edges of her vision going fuzzy, and she knew she was going to die now. _

_All hope was gone. It was over._

_And the worst thing was, she was dying at the hands of a slithering snake who didn't even have the decency to face his enemies face to face, but fight them from behind his pawns._

_It was a sad way to die._

_"So sad." he whispered, humour in his voice. Almost as if he could read her thoughts. "Such a sad excuse for a kunoichi."_

_She breathed out one word, one name. The one person she wanted to burn in hell, wanted to see him draw his last intake of breath as he was sucked of his life and forced into blackness like she was now._

_"Orochimaru." the name was spit out with so much venom and malice, it shook her to her core that she had spoken like that._

_However it didn't last long before black engulfed her. Cold. Lifeless. It was all she was aware of._

"Anko?"

_The darkness faded slightly._

"Anko wake up!"

_No, no, no the pain was so much worse! She was immediatly flung into a turmoil of pain as it exploded from her curse mark and she began to jerk from side to side._

"Anko! Anko! Hold still damn it! You're bleeding, hold still!" a voice commanded loudly and she felt hands grip her shoulders, forcing her down into something soft.

She fough against the hands, not wanting to go back into the blackness with the snake. She wanted out. She wanted light and not back to the cell she had been so close to escaping from! She didn't want to go back!

"NO!" she yelled and fought harder against the hands. "NO, I don't _want to go back!_"

"Anko what are talking about? Go where?" A voice grunted as her fist connected with their stomach. "Shit, would you hold still!"

The spiky haired kunoichi gasped out a breath of air as weight was pressed heavily against her and she gritted her teeth as she went into a frenzy of fighting off the person that was trying to force back into the dark.

"Anko open your eyes!" she jerked harder as harsh barks and snarls reached her ears. "Open your _eyes, _Anko!"

Her eyes flew open and focused on the person holding her down. Immediatly she froze and stared in a shocked daze at a vibrant shade of red.

Her body calmed immediatly as her eyes glazed over and she stared into the hypnotic gaze of the sharingan as it swirled and danced before her, forcing her to freeze.

Kakashi let out the breath he was holding when he felt her slump against the floor and watched her eyes slide shut. He closed the sharingan and stopped the flow of chakra to the tomoes, and stared at her with his single gunmetal eye.

He had been sleeping lightly when he heard her start to struggle. Coming into the room, he had seen her jerking from side to side in obivious pain and sweating. At first he was just going to call her name to get her to wake up, but then she had started clawing at her neck.

It was then that he had walked briskly to the couch. She had screamed and rolled away from him, off the futon and to the ground, withering in agony. Kakashi hadn't known what to do and had on impulse tried to force her awake by grabbing her by the shoulders.

When she began to fight back, he pressed himself on top of her and saw the blood on her neck. Her curse mark.

He hated to use his sharingan on her, but it was the only way. Her eyes when she had finally opened them were wild, they had the look of a cornered animal that knew if it didn't fight it would be killed. He had no choice but to put her to sleep.

A peaceful one though. No nightmares, and hopefully was subsiding the pain of the curse mark.

He disentangled himself from her body and sat back on his haunches, eyeing her carefully. She was still breathing hard, and shaking slightly it seemed, but aside from that she appeared to be fine. Kakashi ran a hand through his hair and looked at the wall to his left.

She must have been thinking of Orochimaru, he thought and glanced back at her. His eye slid down to stare at the blood covered cursemark, and he winced. It had to be painful, very painful, to reduce her to that.

Anko was strong, and refused to let any kind of emotion show. Aside from her teasing. But other than that, she hid everything. If her curse mark was causing pain, most likely she wouldn't own up to it and deny it.

But hadn't it hurt when she was close to Orochimaru? All those years ago at the chuunin exam when Orochimaru had attacked the village, she had admitted to the Hokage of the pain. Only because the Third had talked it out of her.

Then again on her mission to go inspect the islands she had been at with Orochimaru when she was under his training. Training being a loose term. She was being experimented on by that traitorous bastard.

Kakashi narrowed his grey eye before leaning over her form and picking her up bridel style and carrying her carefully to his room. She made a noise in her slumber and pressed closer against him. Looking down at her, he could see her face was relaxed now, instead of screwed up in pain like it had been before.

His lips formed a grim line as he layed her gently on the mattress. Her brows twitched into a slight frown before she turned her face away from him.

The silver haired jounin stood over her in the room, watching as she slept and wandering just what the hell had happened to her to make her lose control like that.

"Kakashi."

The man in question tilted his head to the side and looked down at the ground where the pug-faced Pakkun stared up at him solemnly.

"Hmm?"

"What do you think it means." the dog asked and jumped on the bed to analyze the sleeping woman.

Kakashi frowned softly and looked over Anko slowly, noting how the moon shone her thin sheen of sweat on her skin. The curse mark seemed to stand out harshly against her pale skin.

"That Tsunade had better agree to the suggestion." he answered and turned for the door. Pakkun grunted in agreement before jumping down and following the jounin out of the room.

**XXXXXX**

Bakudan feigned sleep as he layed down next to the fire. He waited until he heard the snores of Kiken before he allowed himself to open his eyes and stare over the licking flames to his leader. The man knew, just _knew_, that Kiken was planning on killing him.

He couldn't explain it though. It was just there. Like a statement of fact. The sky is blue. The grass is green. Kiken is going to kill him.

So that night he had waited for the man to fall asleep before following his plan of action. Yes it was betraying not only his leaders orders but the Tsuchikage's as well. Which meant he was turning his back on his village.

But it didn't matter because they were all crazy anyway. Since the election of the new Tsuchikage, the entire country had started its' way in a downward spiral. The man that now ruled was just to power-hungry and wanted to rule to much.

Of course there were some that opposed the Kage's beliefs, but they wouldn't speak out against him. They would be killed. Then there were the ones that decided to follow the Kage. Half the population, to be exact.

Those people saw the man as some kind of God and refused to believe that he was killing innocent lives. In their eyes, that man could do no wrong.

Bakudan saw it though. He knew the Kage was trying to overtake all the major ninja countries. He had already taken Sound Country, Mist Country, and Rain Country. Grass and Waterfall were to smart to fall for the Tsuchikage's suggestions of a better country if they combined, and had fought against him. Sending there best ninja to attack.

In the end, they had managed to evade the Kage. For now.

The mission at the moment was to retrieve scrolls and maps of the Wind and Fire country. Since they were somewhat oblivious to what was happening to the neighboring countries. Though there was no doubt that Grass and Waterfall had sent out messengers to warn the other two remaining countries.

That's why they had to travel quickly back to the village, hoping that they would beat the messengers or -if they happened to meet them on the way- kill them quickly and dispose of the evidence.

Bakudan had questioned over and over during the mission where, exactly, did his loyalties lie? In the end, he decided he didn't know. But he did now that what the new Kage was trying to achieve was wrong and had to be stopped. That's why he had sent a messenger bird out earlier that die while gathering wood for the fire.

Just in case what he was about to attempt fell through and he lost his life.

The roughened shinobi sat up and stealthy walked away from the fire, slinking to the tree that held his pack and supplies. He was going to make a break for it. Leave Kiken while he had the chance and try to get to a village where he could lay low for a while.

If he succeeded, he would be able to warn the villages in danger, and join them. If he was lucky. He knew as well as any other shinobi, turning traitor to your village was certain death.

He knew this, and yet he still tryed to escape. Because he knew it was wrong. It was all _wrong._

He slid his pack over his shoulders and silently jumped into the trees. Bakudan didn't waste time in jumping quickly away from the camp, not stopping for many minutes. Once a fair distance from the makeshift camp did he allow himself to stop and pull out the scroll of Konoha.

He knelt down on the tree branch to study the mapping of the village. If he could just turn around without heading straight back into Kiken, he could make it to the Village Hidden in the Leaves and-

Cold steal pressed against his throat as his finger roamed the mapping of the Hidden Leaf village. All movement ceased as his eyes darted upwards to lock with the cool gaze of Kiken. An evil smile spread slowly over the leaders mouth as he gazed down at the man.

Bakdan swallowed heavily. He had anticipated this. He knew that his life would end. Either he would make it a little further with Kiken before the man turned on him, or he would escape and be sentenced to death for turning traitor to his village.

There as no way out of it.

The shinobi let his eyes slide shut and his form slump against the branch underneath him. He had failed. But hopefully, just maybe, that messenger bird would make it to the village. It was his last chance.

"Traitorous bastard." Kiken sneered down at the man. "Sniveling, pathetic excuse of a Rock shinobi."

Bakudan closed his eyes tighter and tensed as he felt the blade cut deeper into the skin on his neck.

"You will be punished for this." Kiken spat as he harshly forced the blade deep into the skin before wrenching it free of the flesh, dragging it out of the neck of his former partner.

A garbled noise of pain bubbled past the blood oozing out of Bakudan's mouth and his eyes rapidly glazed over as he fell foreward and out of the tree he had been occupying.

A sickening 'thud' echoed throughout the trees as his broken body fell to the earth. Kiken dropped next to him, wiping the blood of his blade onto his shirt and pocketing the weapan.

"You desereved nothing more than death, Bakudan." Kiken announced to no one as he rolled up the scroll, eyeing the body coolly.

The single shinobi spat on the ground before turning his back and leaving behind the body of his former teammate. No remorse, and no regrets.

It was part of his title of a shinobi. Some died. Some lived. He was one of the ones that lived. Bakudan had sealed his fate the moment he turned his back on the camp.

Kiken returned the camp with thoughts of how the Tsuchikage would be so pleased with his work. After all, this was all for him. All for the mighty Tsuchikage.

* * *

**So that was interesting wasn't it? Makes you want to review right? That's right. Press that magical button!**

**Okay so time for shout outs! I decided that I wanted to do this because you guys deserve recognition for leaving great reviews for my story! So here we go.**

**Thank you very much (in no special order) JunebugXD, Greensapphire, hinata2002, and Dark Duchess and Shadow Queen. Your reviews are greatly loved by me!**

**JunebugXD: Yes, it is very smexy! ^^ And yeah, poor Baki but no fear! I have it all planned out now!**

**Greensapphire: I agree, Anko is way awsome and not crazy and not sane. We'll say she is just a little nutty. Haha. And Kakashi is really awsome to... and smexy... and sooo hot.... Course I still think Gaara has him beat by some...**** And yes, I am bringing Matsuri and Gaara plus the family. And I can't wait to do it either, I just have to find the right opening. But it will be exciting to have all the ninja together won't it? **

**hinata2002: Next chapter is here. Ta da! I updated fast! **

**Dark Duchess and Sadow Queen: That is really neat how you have the same birthday as Baki, I wish I had one of their birthday's. -pouts- But that's okay, I think I'll live. Haha. Yes, Baki needs to be loved and should have more attention. Besides, there is nothing more fun that ruffling a Wind naturend, battle worn, Sand shinobi with ideas of love. Which I plan to do. Oh the horror!**

**So thank you guys very much and if I left anyone out I'm very sorry! I didn't mean to, just leave a message in your review saying you weren't on here and I will put you on the next chapter! Well, I hoped you enjoyed it! And MERRY CHRISTMAS GUYS!**


	9. Guarded Eyes

* * *

Chapter 9

**XXXXXX**

It felt odd putting on civilian clothes. She was always uncomfortable in something other than her normal ANBU uniform, because she felt more exposed and vulnerable. You couldn't hide as many weapons in a relaxed garb.

But she needed a break. Just a small one. Or that's what her Obaa-chan was convinced of.

Yugao Uzuki smiled wryly at the thought of the old woman that was always nagging her for working to hard, or worrying herself to death when the kunoichi was sent on an extended mission. Obaa-chan's once violet colored hair -that resembled her own- had turned a beautiful silver mane over the years of worry over her only granddaughter.

Though her body had aged, the woman's fighting spirit was still as strong as any young kunoichi's. Yugao admired her for that quality and hoped she could be as good a person as Obaa-chan when she became to old to be a valuable shinobi to the Leaf.

A soft rapping echoed around the small apartment and Yugao smiled. Obaa-chan was the only one who knocked like a rabbit but yelled like a bear. The door sqeaked in protest as she opened it and was greeted by the wrinkeled woman with soft hazel eyes and a warming smile.

"Ah, I'm so glad that you are up." Obaa-chan wrapped the kunoichi in an embrace before backing up and scowling at her granddaughter, humour shining in her eyes and a grin peeking at her lips. "But you are supposed to be resting. Didn't I tell you this already?"

"I'm glad to see you to, Obaa-chan. Would you like some tea?" Yugao grinned at the woman as she let herself into the house. Yes, she was told to rest, but no sane shinobi could rest for long. It was just programmed into her blood to be active as long as she was capable. Which was why she was going to head to the training grounds soon after her Obaa-chan left.

Obaa-chan chuckled at her granddaughter, knowing how she was just itching to get out and workout her stiff muscles. "Some tea would be nice, but don't think you are going to get off easy. I will chain you to the bed if I have to." she warned.

Yugao only nodded as she tried to hide her amusement. She wouldn't put it past the old woman to actually succeed in tying her down. Though Obaa-chan had not been a shinobi herself, she knew how to deal with them -mainly breaking past there defenses by acting like a helpless senior- and molding them to her advantage.

It was one of her many talents.

**XXXXXX**

Yamato stared up at the ceiling, hearing nothing but the ring of silence through his home. He didn't much like the absence of sound at the moment, even though most of the time he perfered his solitude. It didn't seem as inviting as usual this morning.

Izumo, Kotetsu, and Genma had all left to do their own things not to long ago. After checking on him of course, and seeing that his bed had not swallowed him during the night. He almost smiled thinking of the trio who had literally broke down as his door to see what was making him distressed.

Distressed was putting it mildly. Maiming him, as Genma put it. Or butchering him from the inside out and shoving the most depressing thoughts in his head, was how Kotetsu and Izumo had agreed it had sounded. It seemed humorous now, but before, it was like hitting a bull's eye. He _did _feel like that was happening to him in that wretched dream.

He jerked his thoughts abruptly from the train of thought, not willing to think about it. Standing from the futon, the shinobi made his way to the bathroom to take a quick shower before heading out for a pick-me-up breakfast and an attempt at training. It was the only thing that gave him a clear head.

**XXXXXX**

He stared at her with his single gunmetal eye from his place against the wall. The silver haired jounin watched as the woman on his bed breathed in deep, slow breaths, her chest rising and falling with each intake and exhale.

Kakashi's cool exterior never wavered as his thoughts ran together in his head. His nin-dogs had long ago left, leaving him on his own with the spiky-haired kunoichi in his room. After having cleaned the blood off her skin, and adjusting her to where she seemed most comfortable, he had sat on the edge of the bed to watch over her.

Aside from an occasional toss or turn, she seemed peaceful. Just like he had suspected since using his sharingan had put her in a deep sleep. One not plagued by nightmares or pain.

Though he didn't know if the pain would affect her once she woke from her slumber.

His one eye steeled as it swept over the curse mark. If he remembered correctly, she only ever had trouble with it when Orochimaru was near. Could he be close to Konoha? And if so, what did he want this time?

Or was it hurting for a completely different reason?

Kakashi's gaze turned almost deadly. If someone had been in the room with him, besides the sleeping Anko, they would have fallen over in shock. It was the most of one emotion he had shown in a long time.

His gaze flickered to the woman's face, taking in the serene expression coating her features. The jounin's look softened slightly. He didn't think he had ever seen her look so....so non-lethal before. It seemed she was always ready to spring and kill someone at the slightest provocation.

It was a nice change to see her peaceful for once.

As he gazed over at her from the wall his look softened, and wondered what she had been dreaming before. What had caused her to scream out when she was almost as a master of keeping her emotions sealed as him? It was somewhat unsettling.

The sun peaked through his wooden blinds and splayed over the hardwood floor and black comforter, and gave color to Anko's pale skin. He watched as she squinted against the light, how her breathing became slightly faster and how she didn't seem to be so relaxed, but on guard now. Alert.

Her almond eyes opened slightly and peered at him for a moment before rememberance shined in her eyes. He gazed back at her, giving her time to get her bearings and speak first. No doubt she would want to know how she was in his bed and not on the couch and why there was a bandage on her left shoulder.

A yawn broke forth as she stretched her arms over head, wincing when it pulled at the bandage. A fleeting look of confusion flicked across her features as she touched the gauze before looking back at him. It seemed like a wall slammed down behind her eyes, blocking him from deciphering what she was withholding from him about her pain.

Kakashi didn't let his mild frustration show.

"I'm guessing something happened while I was asleep." she tilted her head to the side as her eyes scanned his bedroom.

The silver haired jounin nodded slightly, relieved that she wasn't going to fell pain after all. "I was hoping you could tell me about that."

"About what?" she asked innocently, but he could see straight through the act, and he stared her down with a cool, steely gaze.

Under his hard gaze she tensed and narrowed her eyes at him. She didn't like the feeling of him having the upper hand. Like he knew more than she did. It set her teeth on edge.

"What?" she demanded and crossed her arms over her chest.

"You tell me." he countered and fixed her with a look that demanded answers and clearly said, 'no games'.

"I can't tell you anything if I don't know myself." she ground out. Anko was never one to heed warnings, and Kakashi was no exception to that.

Kakashi shrugged off the wall and walked towards her, only to stop a foot from the bed. She glared up at him dangerously. He remained unfazed.

"I'm willing to bet you _do _know."

"Bullshit. If I don't know, I don't know. So stop riding me about it, Hatake."

"Why are you hiding it?"

"I'm not hiding _anything_!" she seethed.

Kakashi took another step closer to her, forcing the kunoichi to glare up at him with her head bent backwards. She didn't like it. It was like he was looking down at her.

"You're lying." he said bluntly.

She growled and rose to her knees, effectively pinning him with her glare and bringing her eyes even with his cloth covered mouth. "I have nothing to say. You can't force me to admit to something that isn't true."

A glint of something passed over Kakashi's steely gaze, and Anko glared harder, wondering what it had been. She watched almost warily, though she wouldn't admit it, as the jounin leaned down close to her.

His arms rested on the bed on either side of her thighs as he locked gazes with her. He could see the slightest hint of trepidation flash in her light brown eyes before steeling over with anger. His own exposed eye went cold as he looked at her, successfully making the kunoichi doubtful of her previous statement.

"Can't I?" his baritone voice rumbled from deep in his chest.

Anko fidgeted under his cold look, but refused to back down and give in. Instead, she moved closer to him, reducing the space between their faces to a single inch. If he wanted to play it like that, then she would to.

"I'd like to see you try, Hatake." she warned.

The slightest lift in his mask allowed Anko to know he was smirking at her, and it made her blood boil in aggrivation. He was enjoying this! This threat! It was just another challenge to him. And it wasn't even any of his damn business anyway. If something was hurting her, what gave him the idea that it was _his _place to figure it out or know?

Anko watched as his eyes returned to the cold look of steel, and she tensed. His hand raised in the air and touched her cheek. The kunoichi's eyes widened as her eyes swiftly darted between his face and his hand. Anko's brows knit together as he barely brushed his fingers against her skin, going toward her throat slowly, softly, heading where the bandage covered her mark.

"What the hell- " she started.

Before she could comprehend what was happening she found herself face first in the blankets and a sharp sting on her lower back where Kakashi pressed his knee into her. The spiky haired kunoichi's hands where pinned under Kakashi's grasp against her back.

"Now, tell me why _this_," here he pressed two fingers onto her newly exposed curse mark, earning a hiss of pain and a curse from the woman under him. "...is causing you to be in pain." he finished.

"Fuck you." she spat.

Kakashi quirked a brow and pressed his knee harder against her. She gritted her teeth and jerked away, but let no noise escape her mouth as she twisted her head to glare harshly at him.

"Is Orochimaru back?" he demanded, not releasing her from his grasp.

He saw her eyes widen just a bit.

"What?" she whispered, and he barely caught the slightest bit of fear in the undertones of pure anger. "What the _hell _do you mean?" she demanded and struggled to get up. He pressed down harder.

"You're cursemark has only hurt you when Orochimaru is near." he leaned down toward her ear. "Is he coming back?" he demanded in a whisper.

"Fuck! I don't know! Goddammit Kakashi, get off me!"

For the moment he let any thoughts of her being traitor to the village go. He had to be careful, because someone who he had allowed himself to trust had betrayed him, the village, and his teachings. It was just precaution.

He knew, though, Anko hated Orochimaru more than anyone in the village ever could. She wouldn't betray them. The only way that would happen would be if Orochimaru brainwashed her, and he wouldn't ever get the chance. She would slit the man's throat if he even got withen two miles of her or the village.

It's just the way she was. And he was glad.

"Alright." he said as he released her and moved off the bed to stare down at her again. She sat up quickly and eyed with him a look of disdain.

Her almond eyes were hard and ignited with anger. The kunoichi didn't allow the confusion to appear in her eyes, because she didn't want the man to know about her anxiety. Though, being the elite shinobi that he was, he could probably taste it in the air.

Could that be why her curse mark was hurting? Because Orochimaru was coming back? She didn't want that to be true, hoped that it wasn't, but what if it was? What if on the slightest off chance Orochimaru had some business that concerned the village? What would happen? What would she do?

.....Kill him. That's all there was to know. If that decpicable excuse of a human wanted to come near the village, after causing so much to pain to her and Konoha, she would tear him apart and grind him into the dirt only to spit on him. He didn't even deserve that sort of grace.

"We should speak to the Hokage."

"What?" Anko looked up at the silver haired jounin with a blank gaze.

"The Hokage." he repeated. "About you're plan, I think she would agree to it...." he hardened his gaze. "But you'll have to explain your curse mark."

His smoky grey eye pinned her in place, cold and hard, daring her to object to his statement. For once, Anko found herself unable to refuse, and it rattled her. Since when did she _ever_ allow someone to tell her what she was, or was not, going to do?

She frowned but gave a curt nod before looking away from him toward the window where light continued to seep from the blinds. A shuffling noise was heard from the doorway, and Anko turned to watch Kakashi step into the empty space.

His dark eye glanced over his shoulder at her. "I'll wait in the kitchen, just come on when you're ready to head over to the Tower."

She nodded and watched him close the door.

**XXXXXX**

The wind began to pick up slightly outside, making the already sand-paper air harder to breathe in. Heat from the sun beat down upon the earth and the rays of intense heat reflected back all around the area.

The sky began changing colors to a bright orange and red, as if the sky itself had exploded into a raging fire barreling over the earth. It was beautfiul and empowering to the people observing. The brilliant lights of the sky bouncing off their faces and glinting dangerously in their eyes shadowed them with an air of ferocity and deathly beautiful grace.

It was like this everyday before the night descended upon them, and it never failed to make a few stop in their steps and watch as the sky burst into flames again.

"Kazekage-sama."

Gleaming, bright green eyes slid to pin the scouting shinobi at the door from which he entered. Said sand ninja swallowed heavily and dropped his gaze as he bowed low to the ground in respect for the powerful Kage before him.

"My team and I found a fallen messenger bird while scouting the border. We could not figure out how to break the seal and we believe it is heavily coded." he spoke quickly while keeping his eyes on the desk the younger man sat behind.

"Is it's destination known." a rough voice demanded in a low tone that rang with concealed power and hidden strength. It also held the calmness of a collected person, one attempting to gain trust from his people.

The scouter relaxed and met the other man's gaze, feeling more assured from his tone. "There is no way of telling, sir. The symbol on the seal is Rock, and they are not really friendly with anyone, so it could be meant for any of the villages."

The young man nodded, causing his blood red locks to brush across his face, and glanced out the window at the fire sky. The orange light fell across his form in soft glow as he stood and crossed the room to stand in front of the older shinobi.

"Then we can take it to the code-breakers for inspection." he said and stepped past the sand nin.

He paused and glanced back on his shinobi. "Your team, bring them into the code-breakers section."

The shinobi bowed. "Hai, Kazekage-sama."

The next second, both ninja were gone in a spiral grain of cutting sand and a 'poof' of choking smoke.

* * *

**I am willing to bet money that hardly any of you know who Yugao Uzuki is, right? That's okay, her name wasn't mentioned in the english version of Naruto if you watched that and she isn't that big of a character. Actually, I think she was only seen a total of three times. Just so you know, she was with the ANBU group that found Hayate when he died, some believe she was like his lover, and she was at the Third's funeral delivering flowers when Kakashi was at the stone (May the Third rest in peace) and the last time I saw her was in Shippuuden when Sora was eavesdropping on what Danzo was saying when he got captured in the interrogating thing and she, plus another ANBU member, caught Sora and took him down to the Fifth (may she kick lots of ass). Yeah, that might have been confusing because I don't remember the episodes. You can always Google her though! Or just go to the official Naruto website. I'm sure she is there.... Actually I'm postitve because that's were I found her picture.....**

**Fangirls of Gaara-sama are allowed to start screaming now! (grabs earmuffs and joins in on screaming) Now that that is over....aren't you so happy! The Sand Sibs will be in the next chapter! And Baki! (evil laugh) I can't wait to mess with Baki's head. I'm used to messing with the Sand Sibs, but Baki is new and it is going to be oh so fun!**

**So now the shout out thing! I think I might do this after every chapter.**

**greensapphire - I'm glad you thought it was an intense chapter, I know it had me on the edge of my seat writing it. I felt bad for Anko when I was doing it because she had to deal with that stupid bastard of a sensei, but now.....(rubs hands together) Kakashi is in the picture! I'm kind of curious of who I'm pairing up to. I have a few planned, but sometimes when I write it takes on a mind of it's own and it comes out better than I originally planned! So usually, I am just as anxious as you guys because I don't know what's coming either! Haha!**

**JunebugXD - Aw thank you! You really know how to give my ego a boost! Be careful though, if my head gets any bigger I won't be able to fit through the door! XD**

**MidnightCurse4Eternity - I am happy you find this story interesting and think it had detail! Lol, my ego just shot through the roof!**

**Dark Duchess and Shadow Queen - Yeah, the Sand Sibs reaction to Baki's future relationship is going to be very fun to write. XD. Anko _is _very stubborn, that's why I like her. Her stubborn attitude is fun to describe along with her teasing and way of thinking.**

**So, that's it. I'll see you guys in the next few days! I hope you liked the story and please review! I LOVE ALL MY REVIEWERS! YOU GUYS ARE AWSOME CREATURES!! (creatures in a good way of course!) ^_- !!!!!**


	10. Come on, Kid

* * *

Chapter 10

**XXXXXX**

"Oh, I'm sorry, Yamato-san. I thought that you had left, forgive me for disturbing you."

Yamato dusted off his blue jounin shirt while smiling over at the woman across from him. Had it not been for her warm hazel eyes that looked like a smoldering fire, he would have had to embaressingly try to remember her name.

Those eyes and her voilet long hair were the only things distinguishable during ANBU missions or brief meetings.

"Yugao-san, it's fine. Are you here to train?" he asked as he strode up to her, his black eyes relaxed and laid back for the first time since he arrived home from his mission.

He saw her shift her weight to the opposite foot as she smirked up at him, having to tilt her head slightly back due to the few inches he had her beat in height.

"Yes, I was. Seems none of us can stay away from the grounds for long, ne? Area one, two and three are taken and are being used for some workouts. This one and area five are the only ones le - "

A loud bang resounded from the area to the immediate left, and as Yugao and Yamato glanced over at the flying debris and chunks of earth, the male had to duck out of the way of an oncoming chunck of earth. He glanced down at the kunoichi and grinned in amusement.

"....Well, make that _this _area is the only one left not completely run over by shinobi on stand-by." Yugao amended and chuckled.

Yamato shrugged. "Well, let's not allow it to go to waste then, right? Up to a spar, Yugao-san?"

She made a show of pondering over the suggestion, as if it would be a burden for her to train with him. Yamato's mouth lifted into a half grin as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked pointedly down at her.

"Ah, I see, don't worry Yugao-san your secret is safe with me." he sighed and gave her a mock sympathy stare. "I understand that you are to worried about getting beaten by your captain to train."

He raised his arms over his head in a stretch manuvering one of his arms to cover his grin. Yugao rolled her hazel eyes and pulled back her fist before letting it snap foreward quickly, only to be caught at the wrist as Yamato chuckled.

"Hey now, what kind of ninja attacks an opponent who isn't even prepared?" he teased as he twisted her arm behind her back, making her face away from him.

She laughed and wriggled slightly, testing his force on her. "Tenz-...I'm sorry. I meant Yamato-san." she glanced back at him apologetically. It was dangerous to use an ANBU member's real name out in the open. At least for elite ones like himself. A captain as strong as Yamato was in danger if exposed and vulnerable.

She wasn't in that much of danger. To anyone, she was just another ANBU member. If her name was mentioned in conversation, it wouldn't cost her her life. Yamato one the other hand....**.**

Yamato shook his head. "It's fine. You can call me Tenzou. It sounds good to hear it from someone else besides myself saying it."

It was true. Hearing someone else say his true name made it more believeable that he was alive and not a walking shell of a human. That he existed and lived, breathed, and could see. Sometimes, just repeating your name over and over in silence just to make sure you were still there had the opposite affect and caused you to wonder if you were even real.

"Well then, Tenzou," Yugao slid her feet back between Tenzou's own and bent foreward, pitching her wieght toward the ground and succeeding in throwing the male over her body and to the earth. "Let's train!"

He blinked and stared up at her grin, as if in a paralytic state, be smirking up at her. "Sounds inviting."

His form 'poofed' away in a sudden burst of smoke and Yugao back flipped away a few yards before scanning the area. Her lithe body dodged to the left just as a kunai embedded itself into the soil where she had been standing before.

"You have to do better than that." she muttered under her breath as she settled into a fighting stance.

"Oh I plan to."

Yugao turned swiftly around with a kunai in her hand and swung out behind her. Tenzou moved back just in time and laughed as he blocked the kick she aimed for his abdomen, throwing his own kick shortly after.

The sounds of their training carried around the area, blending in with the other numerous shinobi finding peace in the familer dance of dodging, attacking, and defending. Tenzou didn't even have a chance to think about his previous mission or the sreaming and blood tied in with it.

Just as he knew it would, training gave him peace of mind. And with Yugao here, it even made it better. Making everything more bearable.

**XXXXXX**

Jaded eyes stared blankly at they blue sky. The clouds were floating by peacefully, a definite change from the previous day. Water puddles gathered in the shadows of buildings and the ground was slightly slick from the rain. Though it should have been slightly humid, the air was particulary clear and easy to breathe in.

A sigh escaped her thin lips as she started walking again. Small droplets of water splashed away from her boots as she stepped and her empty eyes followed them. Watching as they flew into the air, only to come crashing to the earth and splattering around her feet.

Sakura walked down the streets of Konoha, ignoring the pity stares directed at her from the villagers. They saw how she was withering away, and wondered how long it would be before she drifted completely into nothing. It was a scary thought, yes. Not to her though.

She had nothing more. Her training was finished. Her teammates were dead. And her first sensei couldn't even look her in the eye.

That's how it seemed to her. Kakashi avoided her because everytime he saw her he was assaulted by memories of Team 7. Maybe that wasn't the case and Kakashi was just being as aloof as always. It just appeared that way. Or perhaps it was just her imagining things.

She seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

Last night she had dreamed that Naruto was alive, and giving her that foxy grin he had always flashed at her. Earning her own smile in return. He had been sitting across from her, his blue eyes shining happily, and she couldn't stop gazing at him, afraid that if her eyes slid away from him for the merest of seconds he would disappear.

She remembered how his laugh had echoed around her mind, like sweet music. Her own giggles bubbling just under her lips. Odd sensations of happiness and excitement had been ignited in her, emotions she hadn't experienced since the blonde had fallen.

Sakura stopped in the middle of the street and gritted her teeth. Her fists clenched at her sides as her emerald eyes slid tightly shut. She didn't want to think of these things. It had been hard enough waking up from the dream and realizing that it was nothing, that it wouldn't be happening. Ever.

Her eyes slid open slowly and pointedly avoided the stares of passer-bys. Without another thought, she quickened her steps and headed for her apartment. At least there, her solitude was guaranteed.

**XXXXXX**

"K-Kazekage-sama!"

Gaara turned his head slightly to pin his intimidating stare at one of the people in the room. A female cryptologist. Her bright eyes immedialty widened at finding herself the center of his attention, and she bowed low, her face flushing an impressive shade of red.

Rising swiftly back to ramrod straight, the woman lowered her gaze respectfully. "I-I'm sorry, Kazekage-sama. What is it that you need?"

"A fallen messenger bird was reported. The code needs to be broken and the message read."

His voice, no matter how softly spoken, seemed to sound to rough. He watched as the female flinched from his hard voice, but he didn't react. Though he did wish most people didn't fear him, there was a few that didn't.

"Hai, Kazekage-sama."

The cryptologist moved quickly behind a table where the bird was layed out for inspection. Another person entered the room and stepped off to the side, facing Gaara and the shinobi that had reported to him.

"The code could take about an hour to be broken, sir. It seems to be an advanced sealing jutsu, one we have yet to fully cover." the young mans face tightned. It silently amused Gaara that he was attempting to be brave in front of him. "Would you like to wait here, Kazekage-sama?"

The wait would be to long, and he needed to find Kankurou to question the scouting shinobi's team for what they saw. He also needed Temari and that Leaf shinobi to report to him for updates on the chuunin selections.

"No. Send a messenger when you brake it." he said as he turned for the door with the scouter following behind.

"H-hai." the female stuttered and bowed to him. The male dipped his head respectively, and sighed with relief when the door closed.

Gaara made his way back to the Tower after sending the scouter away for his team and found Kankurou lounging against the wall next to his office door.

"....Kankurou." Gaara nodded to his brother.

Kankurou smirked at the youngest Sabaku. "What? That's the only greeting I get." he teased.

Gaara rolled his gleaming eyes and gestured for the shinobi to follow him. In the office, Gaara tossed a scroll to his brother detailing the fallen bird and message.

After reading the scroll, Kankurou's dark eyes lifted to Gaara's. "Do you think it's battle plans?"

Gaara shook his head slightly. "It didn't seem to be heading to any village inparticular. If it was details on invading a village, they wouldn't have been so careless."

"If it isn't something big, then why the advanced seals?" Kankurou frowned as he looked over the description of the sealed message.

The red-head looked out the window overlooking his village. "A warning, maybe."

"Warning?"

Gaara looked back at his brother. "Where is Temari and the Leaf shinobi?"

"Discussing the chuunin exams most likely." he sighed and rolled the scroll back up.

Gaara wasn't going to go into detail about what he thought of the message. That meant he must think something important was surrounding it. Kankurou only found very few things, pertaining to his younger brother, that irked him.

One was that he overworked himself. Even though the Bijuu had been extracted from Gaara years ago, he still didn't sleep well. Instead, he chose to stay boarded up in his office, working until he passed out over his desk. The man just refused to sleep.

Kankurou had tryed forcing Gaara to sleep. That only resulted in him getting sand burns on his arms and torso, and not to mention a very pissed off Gaara. It seemed to amuse Temari though and he didn't understand why.

Another was that if something was on Gaara's mind, he wouldn't tell it. Even if it was eating away at him, stressing him to the point of insanity - more so than usual of course- he wouldn't let anyone know because he didn't want it to bother anyone else. Kankurou believed he did it to protect other people. He would rather let himself suffer than another.

A soft knock resounded from the closed door and Gaara looked up from the window at Kankurou. Rolling his eyes the brunette spun lazily on his heel and crossed the room to open the door.

The scouting shinobi entered with an aggrivated expression on his face, that he skillfully removed when his eye caught the Kazekage's. His team walked in behind him, looking slightly haggard. It was evident they had pulled an all-nighter.

"Kazekage-sama, I brought the team as you requested." the shinobi bowed low.

The three shinobi behind followed suit, bowing at the waist respectfully for the village's leader. Kankurou refrained from rolling his eyes, but did allow himself to chuckle slightly at seeing a certain kunoichi mixed in with the team.

Her chestnut locks hid some, but not all, of her excited smile. Twin pools of onyx shined as they focused on the ground, trying to hide her expressions. After straightening back up, her eyes drifted around the room, as if taking in the sight for the first time.

Kankurou grinned at her when her gaze roamed to him. She smiled happily at him and her fingers twitched at her side in a surreptious wave. He nodded back, grinning, as he scratched his cheek absently.

He hadn't seen Matsuri in awhile. After graduating to chuunin, she had been busy with missions and the like. He remebered how ecstatic she had been when she passed the exam. Her excitement had even brought the ghost of a smile across Gaara's stoic person, the closest thing to an actual sign of pleasure they had ever experienced from him.

She was getting older, and somehow, Kankurou found that depressing slightly. He missed the small genin that hung on to Gaara's every word. Who showed the upmost respect for everyone, and seemed to never run out of energy. She reminded him of that Naruto when she was a genin. Always laughing and smiling.

Not that she wasn't that way now. He could tell just by looking at her as Gaara spoke to the scouter that she was wanting to talk to him and his brother, laugh and joke. He found it amusing that, even if she was growing, she still wanted to spend time with them. Gaara especially.

He turned his head slightly to eye his brother. Matsuri was deffinatly hung up on him, though she wouldn't admit. She said it was respect for him, he was the Kazekage after all. Maybe she didn't know she felt about Gaara that way, but Temari and him knew better.

"Kankurou," the brunette broke out of his thoughts and turned to Gaara who was looking at him questioningly. "...can you question the team."

"Sure, sure. Let's go kids." he said lightly, and smirked when he heard some distinct groans from the team. Only Matsuri seemed to find it amusing, considering he always called her 'Kid' it didn't affect her anymore.

As they turned to head to another room down the hall, Matsuri stopped and swiveled around to face Gaara again. Kankurou paused with his hand on the door handle as the other chuunin and scouter walked out of the room.

Matsuri's bright eyes gazed at Gaara as he looked up from leaning against his desk. She smiled happily at him, and Kankurou could've sworn for a split second a shadow of a smile crossed over his features. The brunette gaped at them before recovering and coughing into his fist.

"Come on, Kid. We have some questioning to start." he teased and tapped her on the shoulder.

She grinned over her shoulder at him. "Hai." Facing Gaara with a grin, she added brightly before exiting with the older sibling, "Goodbye, Gaara-sama."

Gaara nodded in her direction as she left, and Kankurou chuckled. She, aside from Temari and himself, was the only one that got away with calling him that. Everyone else called him 'Kazekage-sama' or 'Kazekage-domo'. If they happened to call him 'Gaara-sama' they received a cold look wich usually resulted in them stuttering out a quick apology and the correct title.

It was evident he had a soft spot for the small brunette, ever since he became her sensei. It was like he took her under his wing that day she asked to be taught by him. He had changed even more that day, and the days following it.

Kankurou flashed a smirk over his shoulder at his brother as he followed Matsuri out and closed the door. Gaara only glared dangerously back at him.

**XXXXXX**

The ground was beginning to get more jagged and steep as the minutes passed. Rolling grass turned to dunes of rocks and the clear clouds turned dusty gray.

"Almost there. A few more days and I'll be back." Kiken snarled harshly under his breath.

Bakudan was dead. And as far as Kiken was concerned, good ridance. The man was nothing but a hindrance and if he hadn't made that move to escape, he would have ended up dying later on down the road. It was inescapable.

A smile of sick satisfaction broke across his scarred face as he thought of all the blood that had been shed from that man. How it had coated the grass around them and how he had felt a surge of energy from killing one of his own.

It had felt so good.

He began to chuckle softly as he jumped from tree branch to tree branch. It bubbled up from deep within his chest, growing and morphing into a full blown explosion of laughter. He laughed so hard his eyes watered and his chest burned from the effort of trying to get in air through his lungs.

It seemed so unreal and comical that he had actually killed a teammate. Murdered a fellow shinobi and found pleasure in it. It felt surreal.

And he would do it again and again if the chance presented itself.

* * *

**I am very angry at myself for not getting this out YESTERDAY! I have broken my little cycle I had going for updating this story every other day! Argh, -beats head with very thick and hardback dictionary-....ouch. Oh, by the way I know that Kakashi and Anko were not in this chapter, but I did that because they are busy planning and talking to the others, getting ready to ambush the Hokage. Poor Tsunade. Besides, I thought it would be a good chapter to bring in a little more Yugao.**

**Alright, after getting some brain food, (AKA Ramen!) I finally had the ideas straight and was able to write this. So you know what to do. Please review and let me know what you thought, what you think will happen, etc... If you will excuse me, I have to go to bed now. Very, very sleepy at the moment and I hear my pillow calling my name. Thank you! ^_^ You guys are awsome by the way!**

**JunebugXD - *drooling over mental images of Gaara* Yeah, mental images are great! It might be better and better now, but it will get awsomer and awsomer later! yay!**

**greensapphire - I have been debating on whether to bring Yugao in or not and in the end I decided to because I have some conflict ideas with her and Baki. And that should be easy to see since Baki _did _kill Hayate (rest in peace). Poor guy, during the exams he seemed sick what with all the coughing. Yeah, I think Yugao was his girlfriend. But that makes it easier to add small plots with her. Haha, you thought of Harry Potter! I'm not alone! I thought of that too when I saw the episode of her past. And Gaara made his appearance in this one to! Yay! Kankurou did to and so did Matsuri! (happy dance) I love writing the sand siblings and anything for Suna. I promise Baki will be in the next chapter.**

**Dragonridingattorney43 - Thank you for your review! I don't care how short it is, I just love to know people are reading my story and enjoying it. I hope you liked this chapter as well!**

**Dark Duchess and Shadow Queen - (jumping up and down excitedly) Woohoo I'm magic! I'm so glad you think I keep them in character. I get kind of nervous about that sometimes thinking, "Would this person really do this, or would they do something completely different..." But in the end it turns out pretty good and people like it. I promise I won't stop writing for this! Thank you for being a loyal reader!**

**orosama - I'm happy you were patient and I hope you like this chapter! ^_^ I'm sorry if the last one was kind of short!**

**MidnightCurse4Eternity - Yay sandsibs! They came in again! Well, Temari will be in the next one along with Baki, but Kankurou and Gaara were in this one! Thanks for reading!**

**NinjaSheik - THANK YOU! ^_-!!**


	11. She's A Minx

Chapter 11

**XXXXXX**

Genma rolled the senbon to the opposite side of his mouth lazily while staring at the two jounin across from him. One having a very annoyed look on her face as her hands fisted at her sides while the other person stuffed his hands in his pockets and leaned his wieght onto the heels of his feet in a relaxed manner.

Blinking, the senbon weilder shook out of his momentary daze. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

Anko glared harshly at him and took a threatening step toward him. "Don't make me kill you, I am so very tempted at the moment." she growled, Genma retreated half a step. "This is the last time we will explain it, got it?"

The senbon weilder nodded. "Alright, alright. Don't blow a fuse."

"We just need to form a team and head to the Hokage's office. Since Tsunade feels something is brewing, we want to send out a scouting team as back-up after an ANBU dispatch team." Kakashi explained slowly.

Genma scratched the back of his head thoughtfully before glancing back at the Copy nin. "Hmm, do you think she would do that though? I mean, if she wanted to send out an ANBU team to scout before us, then wouldn't she want to send out as less as possible?"

"Why wou - ....Oh, okay, to keep strong shinobi handy. Well, then she can just send out a few. I don't care, I just need to get out of the fucking village for a little while." Anko said as she crossed her arms. Genma's attention was immediatly drawn to her busty chest, only to frown as he saw the absence of her normal fishnet.

"What?" Anko snapped.

"N-nothing! I was just thinking that...that I had better go." Genma said quickly and laughed nervously.

Kakashi rolled his one exposed eye. Genma was usually cocky and confident when staring at women's assets. Up against Anko though, he seemed to know what not to do. Smirking, the silver-haired jounin pictured the brunette getting twisted into odd postitions of torture from Anko's snakes as she attempted to kill him for staring at her chest.

Knowing her, she would want to drag it out as long and as painful as possible.

Still....Kakashi frowned and glanced over at the woman beside him, he didn't like Genma staring at her like she was something to eat. It rubbed him the wrong way, and Kakashi found himself wishing Anko would punch the man through the ground. She might not have the strength of Tsunade or Sakura, but it was still impressive. Strong enough to make him tuck tail and submit if she got to pissed off.

"Look, will you just agree to it or do you want me to cut you right here, right now?" Anko threatened hotly and drew a kunai from her pocket for emphasis.

Kakashi eyed the weapon curiously. Just how the hell did she hide those things? Point taken she was a kunoichi but still, where exactly did she keep it concealed _before _he gave her the pants last night? Mulling over it a few seconds more, a slightly perverted grin peaked the corner of his lips. Oh, she had places to hide them alright. And he was willing to bet she could hide as many weapons on her chest as he carried on his entire person.

"Geez, alright woman. I'll do it." Genma sighed and had the look of a man roped into signing a death contract.

Anko gave him her best cheshire grin. "Good choice." she said in a velvety voice.

"One one condition."

The grin was wiped away as fast as it had appeared. She frowned crossly at him, and Kakashi fought the urge to laugh.

"What." she ground out.

Genam smiled coyly at her. Anko wasn't the only one frowning now as Kakashi removed his hands from his pockets and folded them over his chest, pinning the senbon weilding jounin with a glare.

"You. Me. One date, no weapons." Genma answered.

Kakashi almost snorted outloud. Like Anko would ever go to a date without wea-....

A smile spread across Anko's features as she blinked at the brunette. Kakashi stared with one slightly widened eye.

"A date with you, Genma?" Anko said in a sultry voice and moved a little closer to him.

From where Kakashi was standing, he could see Genma gulp.

"Is that a promise?" she asked as she trailed a finger up and down his chest.

The silver haired jounin's eye narrowed to a slit and he dipped his head slightly. To a passer-by it would look like Kakashi was about to impale a kunai into someone's throat. That someone belonging to the brunette across from him.

Genma gave a cocky laugh and quirked his brow at the female. "Of course it's a promise." He leaned in close to her and Kakashi rolled his eye.

His whisper was loud enough for the sharingan user to hear. "As sexy as those clothes look on you now, Anko, I would be willing to bet anything they would look better on my bedroom floor."

......What the fuck.

Kakashi took a step toward the two jounins and was about to say something along the lines of, 'As nice as that may sound, we still have others to speak with.' or maybe, 'You know what else would look better on your bedroom floor? Your limbs and maybe some blood.' However, Anko beat him to it as she pressed closer to Genma.

The silver haired jounin froze in his steps. Genma's face paled dramatically and he began stuttering like a baboon. Tilting his head to the side, Kakashi watched as Anko smiled dangerously and looked up at the man before her.

A cloud passed over the sun at that precise moment and shined down at the trio. The light hit them just perfectly, and the slightest glint of light briefly flashed, immediatly catching Kakashi's attention. As his gaze settled on the distraction, he barely contained the wince. Retreating half a step, he watched in half amusement, half pity, as Genma sweated bullets with a kunai pressed between his legs.

"H-h-h-hey now A-Anko! I'm sorry, I d-d-didn't mean anything _b-by_..." his voice jumped a few octaves as the blade pressed harder. "F-fuck! It was a j-joke! I'm sorry!"

Anko smiled leisurely at him, as if nothing was happening. As if she wasn't holding a very sharp and lethal weapon to the man's groin.

"Aw, does that mean no date, Genma-_kun_?" she purred.

He shook his head furiously. "Just forget it! I was kidding!" he answered quickly.

Anko mock pouted. "How sad, and here I thought I was going to have a little fun."

The double meaning was not missed by either of the males. Personally, Genma didn't find getting castrated in the middle of the street much _fun_.

"L-look, just put that thing down! I'll join the mission thing dammit!"

Smiling happily, the kunoichi withdrew and pocketed her weapon. "Alright then. We'll see you at the Hokage's office this evening."

Genma sighed heavily and took in a few shaky breaths before glancing at Kakashi, who was standing in a more relaxed manner, effectively hiding his amusement.

"Careful, Kakashi-san. She's a fucking minx."

Before Anko could draw her weapon again, Genma 'poofed' away with a mocking smirk.

"Bastard." the spiky haired kunoichi growled.

Kakashi shrugged, silently agreeing. "Let's go. Raidou's apartment is closest."

Rolling her eyes, Anko hiked her pants up slightly and glared at them. "Alright fine, but first I need a belt."

**XXXXXX**

"Do you know which direction it came from?"

"From the way it was laying down when we discovered it, it seemed like it was heading from north, north-west. Close to the mountain ranges."

Kankurou nodded from his place leaning agains the wall. Matsuri scratched her chin and stared at the ceiling, contemplating the flight pattern of the fallen messenger bird.

"Kankurou-senpai?" she said suddenly.

"Hmm?"

She fixed her onyx eyes on him and frowned in thought. "If the bird was flying from north, north-west to here, then it came from Earth Country, right?"

Kankurou smirked at her. She was smart and quick. The other chuunins on the team hadn't guessed where the message was from, only that it was carrying a heavy seal. They hadn't even seen the Hidden Rock Village's insignia on the scroll, so Matsuri gathering that information from just the direction it had come from was impressive.

Still, he was curious as to why she hadn't thought it was one of the smaller villages' that lay in front of Earth Country's borders.

One of Matsuri's teammates, Yukio he believed his name was, snorted and rolled his burgundy colored eyes.

"I doubt it. That bird was clearly from the Hidden Rain Village, at the very least Grass." he scoffed and folded his arms over his chest.

Matsuri glared at the dark haired male beside her. "No, it wasn't."

Kankurou raised a brow at the team before him. Obviously there was a clash of ideals here, it seemed like there always had been between these two. By the way that Yukio shot down Matsuri's observation, though it was right, showed that he thought she inferior to him. Matsuri, being the determind Suna kunoichi she is, wouldn't be put down and bit back.

So what was the deal with the quiet one on the otherside of Matsuri? What was his name?.....Damn, he was the one that helped put the teams together, what was the kid's name? Kydo? Kisho? ...Ah! Kioshi, that was it. Well, he certainly fit his name. 'Quiet' definitely suieted him.

Yukio outright laughed at the kunoichi. "Oh? And what proof do you have to prove your theory? That the bird was a different color from Grass and Rain?"

"Not exactly." she snapped and jerked her head back to Kankurou. "Kankurou-senpai, the bird was relatively small wasn't it?" he nodded. "Birds from Earth Country are smaller than ones on flat land because their body mass isn't as big and doesn't affect the balance of the bird when flying on the high ranges." she glanced over at Yukio with a hard look. "_That's _how I know it was Earth Country. Grass and Rain have bigger birds. Also, Rain's messenger birds _are_ lighter colored than the others. Grass too."

Kankurou's lips broke into a smile and he let forth a small chuckle. The offended and wounded expression Yukio wore made it look like the young man had just gotten slapped in the face. In a way he had, with words that is. Even the silent Kioshi was cracking a small grin and glancing over at Matsuri with his dark blueish-grey eyes.

"Alright." Kankurou called their attention, hiding his amusement. "Is there something more about the bird that needs to be reported, or anything else dealing with this subject?"

It was quiet for a moment before, surprisingly, Kioshi spoke up. His voice was low and steady, but soft. It held the undertones of someone strong.

"The bird, it died from exhaustion and dehydration. Wouldn't that mean that it flew a great distance? It didn't seem to have any destination at all and was flying hap-hazardly. If it did come from Earth Country, then why didn't someone in Grass or Rain stop it?"

"Maybe they didn't see it?" Matsuri guessed

"Considering the foliage that surrounds Grass and Rain, the bird must have been near invisible to the naked eye. This is desert and that thing stood out like a sore thumb, it was easy for us to see because the thing had no cover." answered Yukio, trying to soothe his bruised ego.

The older jounin nodded. "That's a good point. We'll mention that to the Kazekage." Kankurou pushed himself off the wall and went to the door. The team's sensei was sitting outside on a waiting bench, having been questioned previously, and was waiting patiently for it to be finished.

"Ryota-san, you can take your team and head back to the Cryptologist Tower. The scroll was delivered there last night, so it should be broken by now."

"Hai, Kankurou-sama."

Kankurou fought the urge to roll his eyes. The '-sama' had been pretty neat at first, giving him a high on superiority, but now it just got tiresome. Being referred to as that could make a person feel old sometimes, and he was only twenty! For God's sake, he missed just being called by his name, without the annoying suffix.

As the team filed out from the questioning room, Kankurou reached out and ruffled Matsuri's brown locks. She scrunched up her face and turned toward him with a grin as the others went on without her.

"You did good, Kid. I always knew you were a bright one." he gave her a lazy smile.

"I learned only from the best."

He chuckled. "You flatter me."

"Kankurou-senpai, I was talking about Gaara-sama."

The jounin frowned and rolled his dark eyes. "How sweet." he said sarcastically.

She laughed and rubbed the back of her neck. "I'm kidding. Of course you taught plenty, too."

"Damn right." he flicked her on the forehead and stepped around her before she could retaliate. "Now come on, I have a mission for you."

Immediatly forgetting about giving the jounin a kick in the shin for the forehead flick, Matsuri smiled brightly. "What kind of mission?"

"You are going to...." he waited and watched at he suspension ate at her.

"What? What? What am I going to do?" she asked impatiently.

Kankurou smirked. "Help me find Temari and Baki."

She deflated comically and glared lazily at him. "That's a cheap trick."

He shrugged. "It's a mission. Don't you want to see them?"

"Of course, but you can't just build it up like that and make me feel like I am about to go on a dangerous mission that requires only my type of skills." she grumbled.

He chuckeled. "Just think of it as a search and rescue mission, okay? Temari and Baki are trapped in a rogue ninja's cave and are being tortured for information and- "

"Okay, okay! Let's go then, I want to know what's in that message." she swiftly cut him off and smiled benignly at his lazy irratation.

Kankurou nodded and gestured for the chuunin to follow as he made his way out of the building and into the streets of Suna. With Matsuri and his tracking skills combined, it wouldn't take long to find them.

"Oh," Kankurou called over his shoulder as they walked down the busy streets of the village. Since it was mid-morning, the sun wasn't that hot and they weren't in danger of getting scorched by the heat rays. "Try to locate that Nara Shikamaru while you're at it."

"The Leaf shinobi?"

"That's the one."

She nodded and followed him as they jumped onto the dune shaped roofs of the village, following the flow of chakra they both found familier.

**XXXXXX**

Temari sat on one of the benches outside of the training grounds. Having just completed a sparring match with the Leaf shinobi, Shikamaru, she was now polishing her fan the best she could with the edge of her black attire. Said male was leaning back against the fence behind them, that marked off the train grounds, eyes closed and hands folded behind his head.

The kunoichi glanced over at him and smirked. With a quick movement she smacked him on the back of his head the best she could, successfully jerking him foreward and out of his half-asleep state. He turned his lazy glare at her and frowned deeper.

"That's for putting a scratch on my fan." she clarified as her grin stretched.

"You are more troublesome than my mother sometimes." he mumbled and yawned, stretching his arms over his head.

She snorted. "What a pleasant thing to say about the woman that gave you life, Nara."

He shrugged.

Rolling her shoulders, Temari stood and strapped her fan onto her back once more and turned expectantly toward the lazy male.

"Come on, we have to report back to Gaara about the chuunin exams."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming." he yawned again and stood from his seat.

They turned from the grounds and began making their way back to the main part of the village. Shikamaru set a lazy, and tired pace with his hands clasped behind his neck while Temari walked beside him at a steady, easy gate.

**XXXXXX**

Jumping over the roofs of the village, Baki steadily made his way to the cryptologist's tower. Kankurou and Matsuri had found him not to long ago back at his apartment filling out reports for the upcoming chuunin exams, and digging through piles of papers dealing with political references. Sometimes he really regretted the day Gaara put him on as part of the council to take the place of the village traitor, Yura. Though he still got missions, he missed not having to worry about the politics involved in the village.

He honestly didn't see how Gaara did it.

Day after day filling out papers, signing papers, meeting with feudal lords, trading with neighboring countries, meeting with other council memebers and watching over the village every minute of every day. It took and honest, dedicated and over all _strong _man to handle it. And Gaara, only being nineteen, was doing a better job than anyone else coud have ever hoped to do.

Kankurou had said that a messenger bird was recovered, and was believed to be from the Hidden Rock Village. They had never really had much to do with Earth Country, so finding a scroll from them was something that had him on edge. Matsuri had even put in that it seemed it had no destination at all. That it was just flying to be flying.

Then why have a message if it had no destination? What if what was in the scroll was valuable information? That could explain the advanced sealing technique....

Baki sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. He really needed to get some sleep soon, or he was going to end up with black rings around his own eyes. And for some reason, he didn't think Gaara would find it to amusing.

* * *

**Firstly, SORRY FOR NO GAARA APPEARANCE!! He is kind of occupied with the messenger scroll thing at the moment. ^_^**

**Yeah, that took forever to get out. An entire week. What a shame. I have exams next week, so I have been sort of occupied with studying. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I had fun writing because there is a lot of humour in this chapter and that is just my specialty. I love to make people laugh. Okay, now on to the reviews that I recieved!**

**greensapphire - Sorry about there not being no KakashiAnko in the last chapter, but there was some in this one! Along with torturing poor Genma! Hehe. Yeah, poor Sakura, but I am not giving anything away because she has a big part coming up. I'm sorry about it depressing you to, but you can laugh now, Genma almost got neutred. In the street! Yeah, I like Yugao to. There are hardly any stories whatsoever with her in them. And if there is, they usually make her name different because they can't find 'Uzuki Yugao'. Don't worry, I thought Anko and Yugao were related to! The purple hair is just so uncanny! Haha. Yes, the sandsibs are the awsomest. I have to say they are my favorite out of all the characters. So I guess that means I'm Suna through and through! Haha! Thanks for the review.**

**Dark Duchess and Shadow Queen - Yay! Your are happy! Me too! I love Gaara too, secretly, I snuck him from Kishimoto-sama and keep him my room! Mwhahaha! Ahem...Anyway...Haha, well I hoped you finished your homework! Yes, Temari was in this chapter and she will be in the next one to! Yippee! Thank you for you review!**

**NinjaSheik - THANK YOU~!**

**MidnightCurse4Eternity - Your welcome for updating, and sorry about not letting Temari enter until this chapter and for her appearance being so short, but she was in it. Hehe, I'm not telling anything about Matsuri and Gaara, you will just have to read! ^_^**

**JunebugXD - I plead the fifth! Hahaha, ah well you caught me. Gaara has an appointement with the love doctor and she has big black eyes! Thank you, I'm glad you liked it.**

**So thank you guys once again for reviewing, I love getting reviews, it always helps me update. So you know what that means right? Hint hint. Hit that button! Pretty please with Gaara on top? You know you want that Gaara! I do! (glomps Gaara and runs away to Neverland with him and beats up Captain Hooke with the clocky alligator) To much sugar can kill _all _of your brain cells. Remember that kiddies! ^_^ XD**


	12. Chained and Left To Die

Chapter 12

**XXXXXX**

Raidou grunted into his pillow at the sudden movement on the bed next to him. Squinting, he gazed blearly at the retreating figure's backside as they left the room. A perfectly shaped and bare backside at that, and only partly covered by one of _his own _shirts. The male grinned perversly into the cushion and closed his eyes again.

The steps of the extra person echoed down the hall before disappearing, only to begin again after a few minutes of silence. Raidou rolled onto his stomach and burrowed his scarred face into the mattress.

A soft laugh rang in his ears - as quite suddenly - a pressure was resting on his back, tugging gently on his brown, messy shocks of hair. Raidou smiled again and glanced over his shoulder with blurry eyes.

"Are you being lazy today?" the person asked, a grin splitting smooth lips and he blinked slowly in response.

"I was thinking about it, but then I realized it's not so fun by myself." he replied and gently rolled onto his back, holding the person's frame steady, before settling them utop his own lean muscled body.

Those perfect lips smiled down at him. "As tempting as that sounds..." a chaste kiss was placed upon his lips. "I have to go."

He pouted up at warm black eyes. "Are you sure? We haven't been together like this in a long time." His hands rubbed up and down their sides for emphasis and smiled when it caused a shiver.

Indecision flashed across perfect features, and Raidou held his breath.

"I...**.**"

Raidou ceased the oppurtunity to sit up, allowing his lap to be straddled comfortably while his hands rested on smooth hips and rubbed gentle circles on the skin. The brunette pressed his forehead against his partner's and gazed into soft eyes.

Smiling softly, he said in a whisper, "Don't worry about it, Shizune. I know that you need to help Tsunade-sama."

The woman smiled in apology and pressed her lips lightly against his own. He kissed her back softly in response, enjoying the gentleness of it after the roughness of last night. Though he had no qualms about that, it had been very satisfying.

Shizune arched into the man and ran her nimble fingers over the planes of his chest. He shivered lightly beneath her, and she grinned into the kiss. Pulling away, she placed a quick kiss on the scar on the left side of his perfect face and buried her face into the crook of his shoulder.

"I think we still have some time." he said quietly.

Pulling back and grinning like a kid with a new toy, she nodded and laughed excitedly when she was flipped onto her back. Raidou hovered over her and began placing hot kisses along her jaw while working the shirt off her frame.

Her hands combed through his hair as she whispered things into his ear. It was his turn to shiver. Slowly she trailed her fingers over his lean back, tracing the healed scars from his past, before coming around and flattening her hands on his abdomen.

Raidou pulled back slightly and smiled at her. He quickly removed the shirt from her body just as her fingers curled over the waistband of his sleeping pants. The ones he had thrown on haphazardly last night with the last bit of his strength.

He was about to lower his kisses down her frame when he froze and gazed at a spot over her shoulder. She, sensing the same thing just as he had, stared wide-eyed up at him.

"Raidou? You home?"

"Oh my _God_!" Shizune whispered and in a flurry of movements both scrambled from the bed in a tangle of sheets and limbs.

Raidou hissed when his knee banged onto the bedside table sharply as he yanked on his shirt and he limped to the bedroom door. Shizune swiftly pulled on her normal clothes, abandoning the shirt she had worn earlier on the bed where it had been removed, and followed after him. The woman ran a hand through her hair nervously, attempting to straighten the best she could, and only succeeding in making it worse.

"Oi, Raidou! I can sense your damn chakra, so open the door before I BREAK it down!" a female voice yelled as she banged on the door forcefully.

Raidou paused in the hallway and tilted his head in confusion, momentairly forgeting his throbbing knee. Not to mention some _other _still throbbing parts.

"Anko?" he said and scratched his mussed hair.

Shizune paused in running her hands through her hair and eyed the man next to her. "Anko?" she repeated and frowned.

**XXXXXX**

Yamato layed on his back, breathing hard and blinking away the sweat that fell into his eyes. His arms burned as well as his legs, and he felt like he had just fought an entire war. A second person's panting echoed his beside him, and he glanced briefly at them.

Her long purple hair splayed around her face like rippling waves and her hazel eyes remained shut. She looked just as exhausted as him, but a smile tugged at her lips.

"What's so amusing?" Yamato asked slowly, and focused his eyes on her.

"Hmm?" she hummed and cracked open her eyes to stare at him, humour glinting in the depths of her irises.

He smiled in response. "You were smiling, what caused it?"

"Oh," she sighed and looked up at the sky again smiling softly. "I haven't sparred with another person in long while. It was..." she laughed quietly and glanced over at him. "..fun."

He chuckled. "Yes, it was." he agreed, and pushed himself up in a sitting position with his hands holding him up.

She followed suit.

"I feel like I just ran around the world three times." he commented and rolled his shoulders.

Yugao laughed as she brushed her purple bangs away from her heart-shaped face. "I know exactly how you feel."

Yamoto scratched his chin and gazed up at the sky. It was still pretty early, maybe ten-thirty or so. A breeze blew lazily and the brunette breathed in deeply, tasting the forest on his tongue, and even catching the slightest scent of jasmine. From Yugao no doubt.

He heard her sigh from beside him and he looked over at her. Yugao's face was peaceful and her long hair danced slightly in the wind, as if it was alive and enjoying the day just like they were. Her long eyelashes rested against her cheeks in a child-like manner, and he found himself smiling. She was beautiful he would admit.

Yamato frowned and shook his hard and looked the other way. He was tired, that's all. He just needed to go rest up a bit then he would be fine.

"Ne, Yamato?" she called his attention.

Said man met her gaze. "Hmm?" The loss of the '-san' didn't go unnoticed by him, and it made him feel more comfortable around her by the minute.

"Why don't we go get some lunch? My treat."

He started to refuse, but she cut him off with a teasing grin.

"Oh come on," she laughed. "it's time to eat anyway and I know you must be starving after that training."

Yamato certainly couldn't deny that. He _was_ hungry and as he comtemplated it, he decided that there was no harm in getting lunch with her. But he did have one condition.

"I pay." he stated as he stood from the ground and extended his hand to help her up. She smiled and took his offer. While dusting off her pants she shook her head.

"Nope. Either I pay or no lunch."

"Then how about splitting the bill?"

"And why can't I pay for it?"

"Because it's common curtesy for the man to pay." he said as he crossed his arms. She bit back her laughs but let her grin grow.

"What a gentleman." she teased. "Alright, you can pay half, but that's _it_. If I see you trying to pay the whole thing, I really am going to make you run laps around the world."

He chuckeled. "Agreed."

**XXXXXX**

Darkness. It was everywhere, clouding the vision of any one person who came into it's domain. There was no light, no warmth, nothing. Just black and the emptiness of forgotten memories and bitter thoughts. It was impossible not to lose yourself in it's depths. To not let yourself become part of it and fade into nothing.

Wasn't that the point of it? To make it seem like you never were? Never existed in the life you thought you knew? It was all gone anyway, you were never to see the outside world again because it was to be not only your prison, but your grave as well.

No windows to let the sun shine in, and no passages for escape. Chains wrapped around wrists and ankles and choked the damaged throat of one miserable soul. Lungs struggled to breathe, only to take in the heavy and thick air of the prison.

A form sat against a wall, leaning foreward as much as the chains would allow, almost like they had died and now sat slumped in defeat. Deep and shallow cuts lined the body, bleeding slightly at the ankles and wrists while blood ran down the front of the body from the neck.

The outside was what this person had once craved to find again, to have it in their hands. Be able to feel the sun on their skin, able to take in the world with clear lungs and bright eyes. To see how things had changed, and change with them. To move on and be happy.

But he was forgotten. A lost person, someone that was not needed and not wanted. Abandoned.

The chains rattled slightly as he moved. Lifting his head to gaze at the bars ahead of him. His eyes remained unfocues and dull, his face grim.

Another man stood at the entrance, unlocking the bolts and stepping in. The prisoner wanted to claw the man's eyes out and make him bleed. Kill him for ever touching him and bringing him to this hell. Torture him and make him suffer through what he himself had been through.

The man stepped right next to him and knelt down, a sinister smile twisted his face into something more gruesome and ugly than it was originally. It made the prisoner sick.

"You know what time it is." he said nastily and smacked the chained man's face hard enough to make the links rattle harshly in his ears.

A syringe was brought of from underneath the ugly man's robes and shoved immediatly into the shoulder of the prisoner.

"That should hold you until tomorrow, montser."

The 'monster' slumped farther against the wall. His face stung and he felt his strength dwindle and flicker down to a point that he wondered, for God knows how many times, if he was going to die from the weakness that clouded his mind and body.

As the man stood from the ground, he delievered a swift and brutal kick to the 'monster's' ribs, taking pleasure in how he knocked back into the stony wall as he threw his head back in pain.

"I'll be back in an hour. After all, we still have to harvest more of that chakra for the test subjects." he spat on the ground and turned to leave.

The prisoner breathed heavily, wishing in vain for clear air, and looked at the exit in front of him. It had remained in that place for years. He lost count. It had just been a long while, long of enough for him to be forgotten, and that's all he knew.

All he needed to know.

The footsteps of the brutal man echoed around the stone walls before ceasing all together.

The prisoner sat still for a moment, searching inside himself for some sort of power, only to find it repressed and held back. He could feel it in him, but it was being restrained.

Blue eyes looked out from beneath blonde bangs, murder dancing in his gaze. Red bled into the blue, morphing the color, only to recede back into the depths of his eyes again before repeating the process. Fangs began to form under his cracked and dry lips, tearing the gums and allowing blood to run down his chin and drip to the floor.

A low snarl began emitting from his chest and he wanted to howl in misery at how he couldn't get loose. At how the shot had suppressed him, how the chains restrained his chakra flow to. How he was to powerless. How he couldn't do anything about anything and he was a victim and nothing more. He was nothing but a thing to be harvested. Nothing but a holder for a demon's chakra that they pulled from him to pour into their own people.

He was nothing, yet he was everything. He was infinte and he wanted to breathe. He wanted to break away and he wanted to kill. He wanted to taste the blood of the people that locked him away.

He wanted to see the eyes of the people he once knew and wanted to hold them. He wanted to protect them again. He wanted to run to them.

He wanted murder.

He through his head back in agony as a gut wrenching cry of anger and pain ripped through him and echoed through the rock. Bouncing off of every surface and building into something stronger and wild.

Footsteps were running to his prison and he smiled, fangs glinting in the darkness as blue ceased to exist and red bled through his eyes and pupils turned to slits. Bloodlust began to take over, and he heard a cackling.

Demented, insane, cackiling running through him, racing with his blood. It grew and grew, get louder and louder. His lungs hurt with intense pain, and yet, he didn't stop it.

He was the one cackling because he could see people running at him, weapons drawn and smug smiles on their faces. To bad they thought this was going to just be like it always was. This time, he wouldn't be brought down. This time, he was going to kill every last one of those bastards.

And he was going to laugh while he did it. He was going to enjoy seeing the life leave their eyes and see the regret flash on their faces.

But it was too late. It was time for them to die.

* * *

**Intense, huh? I thought I should go ahead and bring this in. I was going to wait, but I thought that it would be better if I did it know. Besides, I couldn't wait any longer. I hope it was okay I was thinking about it all day and I kept questioning it. Anyway, I think I am going to change the rating to M because there are going to be lemons later. Just so you know. If you don't like that, I'm sorry. Really I am.**

**Okay there was only two reviews last chapter T_T but that's okay, I'm not writing this for reviews. I like writing I just want to know how good it is and how I can improve so...Please????**

**NinjaSheik - THANKYOU~!**

**Dark Duchess and Shadow Queen - Now that is a very interesting theory! I love it! Hahaha, no wonder Shika is always getting hit in the head by everyone, they all won't him to stop being smarter than them so they are dumbing him down! That makes so much sense. ^_^ Oh and don't worry about taking up my time in the reviews, I love long reviews they make me smile. So thankyou for the review and reading the chapter.**

**So that's it, and this would be about the time you would review...please!????**


	13. Manipulate Sands

Chapter 13

**XXXXXX**

Yamato chewed and swallowed the last bit of his dumplings and glanced over at the woman across from him. She was currently gulping down her drink and smiling at him over the rim of her glass. Her hazel eyes were bright and seemingly dancing. He found it impossible not to return her grin.

"Are you finished?" she asked after setting down her drink.

He nodded. "I still think I should pay."

"Oh, no." she mock glared at him with a teasing grin and a humours glint in her eye. "I'm footing the bill, so you just sit back and enjoy the food you've just ate."

"But- "

"Yamato," she cut him off and he immediatly ceased talking when his name came off her lips. "I've got it, okay?" she smiled softly at him, coaxing him to agree. Which he did reluctantly.

"Well," she said after the bill had been paid and they made their way outside into the sunshine. "That was fun, huh?" she grinned.

He nodded and smiled at her. "Yes, it was. It helped me get some things of my mind. Thank you, Yugao."

He saw the kunoichi smile softly when her name came off casually from his lips, pleased with him being so familier like she was being with him. "I'm glad I could help."

It was no secret in the ANBU Headquarters that Yamato had been assigned an assination mission. One that required him disposing of a small child that had known more than was necessary and therefore had posed a threat to the village as a whole. It wasn't the child's fault. It was only a case of curious young ears.

Yugao knew about his mission and what had happened, having been one of the ones to read over his detailed report before filing it away. She knew it had been painful to take a life so young, and she understood. It was something that every ANBU member had been put through at one time or another. Sometimes it was harder than others, and sometimes it was as easy as breathing.

Her eyes slid over to him carefully, gouging his expression for thoughts on his previous mission. To anyone else, he would have looked perfectly relaxed and layed back. However, Yugao, being on the same level of ninja as him, knew better. She could clearly see the hidden pain behind his warm, black eyes and the slight downward tilt on his usually smiling lips.

The kunoichi's brow furrowed and she nudged him in the shoulder with her own, attempting to pull him out of his thoughts. "Come on, I have a place I want to show you, okay?"

Yamato blinked and turned his gaze down toward the kunoichi walking beside him, her eyes soft and understanding. "Alright then." he agreed and smiled crookedly at her.

Yugao smiled in return. "Great! Come on." she grabbed the sleeve of his shirt and proceeded to lead him through the Konoha crowd.

**XXXXXX**

"Jeez, is he ever going to answer?" Anko growled before giving the door in front of her a good kick.

Kakashi rolled his eyes and stuffed his hands into his pockets. Just as he pulled out his _Icha Icha Violence_ book and found his marked page, something snagged his attention. Not really a _something _so much as a _someone_ making a noise. The slightest creaking of a window being opened.

Kakashi glanced at Anko to see if she heard it too. The kunoichi had her leg reared, ready to deal another kick to the door, when she paused and tilted her head to the side. Her eyes roamed the front of the building and she slowly retracted her appendage to turn and look at Kakashi.

"Methinks we a have a few escapees on our hands, Kakashi." she grinned.

He nodded. "So it would seem."

"Should we catch them now, or do we wait until Raidou opens the door?"

Kakashi closed his one exposed eye and snapped his book shut. "I believe Raidou will not be allowing us entrance at the present time." The silver haired jounin opened his gun metal eye slowly, mirth dancing brightly as he looked down at Anko. "I think we should...speed it up a little."

Anko's mischevious grin split across her face. "Couldn't agree with you more."

With a quick series of hand signs from both jounin, the promptly made shadow clones and jumped onto the roof, leaving the fakes at the door to catch anyone who thought of making an exit from the front.

"It feels so good to be doing something!" Anko crowed quietly as they slinked across the roof.

Glancing over at her, Kakashi smiled underneath his mask. He nodded in agreement before pressing his back flat against the wall behind him utop the roof. Anko mirrored his movements, her almond eyes flicking around them, searching for the two ninja that had failed in suppressing their chakra signatures.

Anko nudged Kakashi in the shoulder. "You know," he looked down at her. "I never would have thought them two would click."

Kakashi shrugged. "Life has a way of throwing surprises at you." he replied. "Now come on, I hear one of them slipping out of the window."

**XXXXXX**

"So....it was sealed with an advanced technique, was flying with no destination, and was found dead on the borders between Wind and Fire. Did I miss anything?" Temari said as she held up three fingers for emphasis on each description.

Shikamaru stood at her side, his hands stuffed deep in his pockets and a bored expression on his features. Though, for anyone who had spent time around him, it was obvious that he was taking in the information and analyzing it carefully. There had to be a loop hole somewhere.

Kankurou shook his head. "Nah, I think you covered it. Except that it was from Earth country."

Temari raised a brow. "Earth? What are they doing sending messages to us?"

"It wasn't to us," Gaara said slowly as he examined the scroll carefully. "it's addressed to anyone that is living in a ninja inhabitated area. It mentions Wind and Fire."

Baki stepped away from his spot on the wall and walked carefully to stand beside Gaara. Though Gaara was far from the bloodthirsty monster he had been when he was a genin, the power - even with the Shukaku gone - could be so easily sensed it was frightening. "Does it say who it is written from?" he questioned, scanning the bottom of the newly opened scroll.

Gaara's head moved a fraction to state the negative. "It is just signed, _'A Fellow Shinobi'_."

As the man's jade eyes slid from the paper, his gaze rested on his brother and sister in front of him. Ryota stood by the door, his team standing obediantly next to him, and eyed the Kazekage respectfully, but warily. Gaara glanced over at the Leaf nin and directed his attention on the young man.

"When do you leave for your village." he asked as he rolled the scroll back up. Effectively stopping anyones' thoughts of its' contents.

Shikamaru straightened and yawned slightly. "Tomorrow morning, actually. The chuunin exams are going to start in a few months, your village will be joining of course."

Gaara nodded. "I'll get a team ready to head out by then, a meeting with the Hokage needs to be settled immediatly."

The looks of shock and discomfort mirrored around the room, excluding the impassive Kazekage, as they stared at their leader. What had been in that scroll that made him want to meet the Hokage on such sort notice? Was it something that presented danger? If so, then to whom?

"Gaara, what's going on?" Kankurou said and looked his younger brother in the eye.

The man in question cut his eyes to the shinobi and stared him down. Kankurou sighed and averted his eyes away from Gaara, frowning at the wall to this left. "Fine, if you won't tell me, at least let me come with you tomorrow. I haven't had any traveling missions in a while."

The unspoken urge to protect his brother hovered in the air, known to only the blood related siblings in the room.

Temari's small smile went unnoticed as she nodded in agreement. "You're not leaving me behind."

Baki hid the smirk perfectly, keeping the frown on his face to hide his thoughts. It was good to see them so closely bonded after all that had happened when they were younger. Kami knows they deserved it. Looking at them now, it was difficult to see the young genin he had been a sensei to. All he could see now were two fine young men and a strong, capable woman with futures ahead of them, despite the blood and killings that would undoubtedly be tied into to it due to their chosen profession.

The shinobi's one exposed eye slid from the occupants in the room and gazed out the circular window behind the cryptologist's desk. A lone desert bird flitted swiftly in and out of view, swooping low over the sand buildings of the village. Baki sighed as he looked out at his home. Though pride was the biggest thing he felt when he looked at his former students, he couldn't help but feel old, too.

Of course being thirty-two wasn't really old per say, it wasn't exactly considered young either.

"....right, Baki?"

The man in question jerked back from his thoughts and turned back to the others in the room. Kankurou was leaning against the wall across from him, smirking lazily and looking at him expectantly.

"Er, yes. Of course." he said slowly, suspicously watching Kankurou and feeling wary about what he had just agreed to. He could have just asked what the question had been, but he couldn't be spacing out in front of the Kazekage, being his former student or no, it was disrespectful to ignore him.

"Good, well there you go, Gaara. You have your team." Kankurou turned his gaze to his younger brother. "We just need to go back home to pack and we can head out in the morning."

Gaara nodded in agreement. "We will meet at the gate before sunrise. Dismissed."

Baki sighed inwardly in annoyance. It would seem he just agreed to go to Konoha with the team. But he would rather it would be him than one of the other council members that still, after all this time, didn't trust Gaara and would look for any excuse to kill him off. If it was possible for them to do so, that is. Which it wasn't.

Kankurou grinned over at Matsuri as she fought the urge to express her excitement. Her black eyes were shining brightly, and her lips were turned upwards into a smile that was so goofy he chuckled under his breath. This would be her first mission to Konoha, and she had always said how she yearned to go to the village that had helped Gaara.

She was anxious to see the place that had once been home to Gaara's first friend, Uzumaki Naruto. Kankurou's expression saddened at the memory of the blonde haired ninja. It was a shame that he had died, being Hokage at the time too. But he was strong, and he died protecting his village at the gates. A true shinobi's death.

Kankurou watched as Matsuri calmed herself down, her smile still splitting her face, as she walked up to the Kazekage. Kankurou couldn't help the quiet snicker that passed his lips and he looked over at Temari to see if she was seeing Gaara and Matsuri. His sister was to occupied with discussing things with the Leaf ninja to notice, and Kankurou frowned. He would have to teach that pony-tailed male a thing or to about messing with his sister.

Matsuri watched with amused dark eyes as Kankurou stalked over to the Leaf ninja and casually slung his arm over his shoulders. It would have appeared like they were old friends, aside from the fact that the hand that wasn't on Shikamaru was behind Kankurou's own back - out of Temari's sight - and tightly coiling glowing blue chakra strings to Shikamaru's wrist.

"Gaara-sama, I wanted to thank-you. For allowing me to accomany you on your mission." Matsuri said quietly, gazing up at the young Kazekage with respectful eyes.

Gaara looked at her and his lips tilted slightly upwards. "You and your team were the only advanced chuunin and we could use your skills." Matsuri smiled. "Besides," he added quietly and glanced over at his family and the lazy Konoha ninja. "We might need another sand weilder out in the open." he said in quiet voice and winked at Matsuri.

**XXXXXX**

Another broken, mangled body crashed to the floor, blood spurted from his open mouth and splattered on the walls and clothes of the only person left standing. Sharp, glinting fangs stained in pink were exposed in a sadisticlly morbid smirk of accomplishment. It hadn't lasted long. It had been their own fault, though. The reason they were dead was because of the stupidity they owned.

If they had been wise, they would have killed him back at his village's gates. But no, they had to hurt him enough to where he couldn't fight back and drag him back to a prison. Then day by day suck out his chakra and inplant it into their sick little followers, forming an army little by little to rule over everyone.

It wouldn't work.

Blood red eyes gazed at the fallen bodies around him with hate and disgust. It ended here. His scarred face tilted toward the moon that had come out from behind the clouds and mountains around him. The stones that had once formed many cells lay in heaps of rubbish and broken piles of rock. Death hovered over the land with a sick smile and open arms.

Blonde bangs obscured the look of hate from the stars, and the man rose one bloodied hand up to his face. His fingernails were encrusted with dried blood. His own and his victims. His clothes were torn from the weapons that had been useless against him, and his heart was frozen from the torture he had been put through.

"This is as far as it goes." The promise was strong as his cracked voice erupted from his hoarse throat. No matter what happened to him, he would protect his village until the last breath left his lungs.

And he didn't plan on dying for a while yet.

* * *

**Sooooo sorry! I know this took forever to get up and I am really sorry about that! I have been really sick (for an entire week and school is going to be a bitch!) and after tomorrow, I will be so loaded with work it's not even funny! Anyway, thanks for reading and please review!!!!!!! Oh, and if you don't mind could you read my Vampire Knight Guilty story? Even if you don't feel like reading it, can you just to tell me how I'm doing? I'm so scared about that one for some reason!**


	14. Thank you, Kamisama

Chapter 14

**XXXXXX**

The trees encircled the small clearing beautifully, bending slightly mid-way down the trunk to look as if sheltering the small space. The thigh high grass that grew all around danced in the breeze, swishing and blending gold, green, and pale yellow into a mass of strands. The air itself seemed peaceful in the small meadow, and the sun glowed it's soft warmth into the earth. Just breathing the air almost felt like you were being born again, experiencing the most breathtaking moments imaginable in your life for the first and last time.

Yamato gazed at the clearing ahead of him, and a soft smile grazed his lips. In the distance, he could hear the quiet trickling of a stream running over pebbles and rocks as it made its' way to an even bigger water source. It was a rare sight, to see a peace of the earth untouched by human hands. He couldn't sense any type of person's touch anywhere around him, only animal tracks and scents.

His dark eyes slid to the side, glancing at the woman that had led him to this magical place. Yugao stood silently, her hazel eyes closed and her head tilted slightly toward the sky. Her chest moved up and down slowly from her deep, rythmetic breaths as a contented smile curved her lips. Her waist long violet hair danced in the air with every whisper of wind and the sun kissed her skin lovingly.

Yamato looked away quickly, diverting his eyes from the beauty beside him and instead looked at the grass under his sandaled feet. A slight coloring on his cheeks was the only indications of his shock, and he effectively fought it off before Yugao's bright hazel eyes could catch it.

"It's beautiful, isn't it." Yugao whispered and glanced at the man at her side.

Yamato nodded and looked at his surroundings. It really was a peaceful place. "How did you find a place like this?"

He listened to her laugh, and felt himself smile in response. "I didn't find it, really." Yamato saw her smile fade and sadden, and something in his gut twisted from the sudden grim aura coming from her. "Hayate discovered it. Back when he was still alive."

**XXXXXX**

"Well, well, well. What do we have here."

Anko grinned teasingly down at the pair below her. One form still hanging onto the window frame as they attempted to slide out quietly, while the other was leaning out of the opening to watch that their partner made it safely to the ground below. However, upon hearing the smug voice of Anko, they both froze and groaned in unison.

Anko clucked her tongue. "Oh come on now, you know you wanted me to come and visit."

Raidou raised his eyes and sighed at seeing not only Anko, but Kakashi as well standing on the roof of his house. "Perfect timing skills. Just lovely, guys."

Kakashi's crinkled eye smile only made Raidou drop his head in defeat. Shizune pulled herself back up to the window sill and carefully sat on the edge. Turning her face to gaze up at the pair, her face went pink and she smiled nervously.

"Ahahaha, so you two....how have you been?" she tried to sound nonchalant as she rubbed the back of her neck. Anko's smirk widened triumphantly and Kakashi bit back the grin that was fighting for control. Even behind the mask, his mirth was evident in his gunmetal eye.

Anko crouched down on the roof and propped an elbow on her knee to rest her chin in. Her smirk never left her lips and Kakashi lowered himself to a crouch beside her. Though he wouldn't admit it outloud, he was highly enjoying himself. It was almost like one of the scenes from his beloved _Icha Icha _without the explicit romps and nudity.

Kakashi giggled slightly behind his mask and he saw Anko roll her eyes at him. She leaned to the side and shoved him with her shoulder. "Eyes on the prize, Koinu." she ignored the deadpan look on his face and grinned cheekily at him as she whispered low enough only for his sharp ears. "We got them right were we want 'em!"

Kakashi tilted his head and looked down at the couple now slinking into the apartment with annoyed and worried expressions etched into their features. His one eye slid back up to the devious woman next to him, and he smirked beneath his mask. "You're evil, Anko."

"Hmm," she smiled and stood. Stretching her arms over her head with her eyes closed in content, she sighed, "And it feels soooo good."

Kakashi chuckled at her words and glanced at the slight veiw of skin showing from beneath the jounin shirt she wore. Tan and smooth. Sexy.

Anko whipped around and Kakashi followed in stride, hiding the fact he had just been imagining how to remove her shirt completely as they jumped off the roof and knocked on the door.

The silver haired jounin inwardly berated himself. How long had it been since he had had a woman? Too long from the thoughts of Anko wrapped in his sheets, entangled with his own body... Kakashi shook his head. He would have to go see Sakura after this, obviously he wasn't feeling well. It must be that bug that had been going around. God knows he couldn't afford to be sick.

The door swung open to reveal Raidou tugging his shirt into place and Shizune smoothing her hair down.

Kakashi smiled his crinkled eye smile and held up a hand in greeting. "Yo."

"Aren't you going to invite us in?" Anko asked deviously, a grin stretching across her face. "Not good hospitality to leave someone on the doorstep you know."

Raidou sighed and stepped back enough to give room for entrance as Shizune smiled shakily. "Would you like something to drink?" she asked and took a step backward to the kitchen.

Kakashi shook his head as Anko spoke loudly, "Sake. Biggest bottle you got."

Shizune stared at Anko for a moment before shaking herself out of her revere and nodding as she turned to the kitchen. Raidou dragged a hand down his face before staring tiredly at his guests. "So," he started. "how's things on your end?"

Kakashi opened his mouth to speak but was cut off as Anko put a hand over his mouth. Her almond eyes shined with humour as she looked from him back to Raidou. "Good, even better when you say yes to our proposition."

Raidou immediatly tensed up and eyed the woman before him like she was hiding explosive tags on her person. "Why do I feel like I don't have a choice, whatsoever, in the matter?"

Anko grinned. "Oooh, you catch on quick."

Kakashi rolled his one eye as his lips quirked into a smile. She was manipulitive, in a harsh but intertaining way. Raidou motioned for them to sit down on the futon in the living room as he turned from them toward the kitchen. "I'm going to give Shizune a heads-up."

Anko smirked as she turned to Kakashi. "This is going well, don't you think?"

"I think you're cornering them." he stated and relaxed back into the cushions.

The spiky haired kunoichi shrugged. "More fun this way." she said indifferently. "I like to watch them squirm."

"Have you always been so crafty? Or is this just the side-effects of being on stand by?"

"We'll go with the first, just because I know I've always been sly."

"So it has to do with being on stand by, too?"

"....Maybe just a little."

Kakashi made a noise of agreement. "I think we all might start having withdrawels soon."

Anko slumped into the futon and stared at the ceiling. Both ninja listened carefully to the hushed voices coming from the kitchen as they tried to surpress their curiousity. Which wasn't happening. As the voices rose and fell, Kakashi found himself inclining his head toward the room, trying to catch bits and pieces of the conversation. Anko was less shady about her curiosity and was currently sitting backwards on the couch and leaning over the headrest of the piece of furniture. Her hands folded over the back and her head rested on them as she watched the doorway, catching every word possible.

"Hey, Koinu."

Kakashi sighed but turned his head to give her his attention. "Hm?"

"I think they're having sex in the kitchen."

Kakashi choked on his air as he tried to laugh and control it at the same time. "Come again?"

Anko grinned. "Oh, believe me, I think they will be soon."

The silver haired jounin chuckled and leaned foreward to rest his elbows on his knees. "Aren't you going to interrupt?"

She shrugged. "Neither one of us is a closet pervert, why hide it."

Kakashi glanced at her with humour shining in his eye. "As much as I resent that, I feel you should know they have your sake in there." when she gave no reaction he smiled broadly beneath his mask. "An alcholoic bottle can serve to be an interesting sex toy."

Anko's bellow of outrage and disgust reverbrated the building as she jerked into a straight back position on the futon. "Thanks for the offer, but I'd perfer my drink without the extra spice!"

**XXXXXX**

"Come...on...just a little...further!" Matsuri huffed out between breaths as she attempted to stuff a rather large weapon scroll into her travel pack. As she threw her weight into her hands and pressed harder onto the scroll, a grunt of satisfaction sounded from her as the scroll folded into the pack.

"Yes!" she crowed and stepped back to examine her work with her hands on her hips. Her lumpy travel pack sagged on her small bed, and her excited smile wavered before falling away completely. Matsuri groaned and smacked her palm on her head as her onyx eyes glared at the bag across from her.

She hadn't even packed her clothes yet, and the bag was full from the weapon scroll.

The brunette stomped toward her pack, but stopped abruptly as the bag quivered slightly. In the blink of an eye, Matsuri jumped back with a kunai drawn and held threatningly in her hand as she tensed, ready for an attack. The bag quivered again and Matsuri's black eyes narrowed.

The pack slipped foreward slightly, and the scroll erupted from the pack into the air, unraveling in a whirlwind of sealed paper from the tight confines of the traveling bag. Matsuri yelped and dived to the floor to duck from the heavy scroll that had gone flying at her with a vengeance.

"ACK!" Matsuri choked as the weapon scroll dropped with a heavy 'thunk' on her back before rolling innocently off her and to the side. Her eyes glared harshly at it, something she had picked up from Gaara while under his tutalige, before pushing herself up from the floor with a growl. Fine, if the scroll didn't want to cooperate, she didn't need it to. She had other ways of handling it.

With a flurry of hand seals, Matsuri transferred the weapons into five smaller scrolls and picked up the offending object with a sneer. There was a simple and rational way of handling things, and she knew just how to take care of it. Properly.

**XXXXXX**

"Yes, I'll have the red one. No wait, I'll take the blue. No, no, no, I change my mind. I want the red."

The silk merchant frowned at his customer that couldn't seem to make up his mind. The snooty man had been at his stand for half an hour trying to decide on which colored silk he would make a new head dress with. If it were up to him, he would show the man _exactly _where he could shove the silk and money he owned. Straight up his-

"Well?! Are you not going to give me what I want to purchase?"

The merchant smiled benignly. "I'm sorry. Fresh out of that color. If you go down the street though, there is another merchant that is selling more varities of silk. For a good price, too."

The merchant inwardly cackeled at the uppity man's angered expression. As he turned with a huff, the merchant sighed with relief. The God's must really hate him to send him such an unreasonable customer when he was on such a short temper today. But it didn't aggrivate him as much as he saw the rich man walk down the street to another silk merchant that was selling his items for anything _but _a reasonable price.

"Please give me the strength to deal with that man when he comes back even more angry." the merchant whispered as he turned his face upwards toward the Gods.

At just that moment a loud and painful '_crash_' captured the merchants' attention as he looked back down the road he had sent the wealthy man. Said man was laying on the ground with a dazed look on his face as a giant scroll rolled away from him innocently, like it didn't just fall from the sky and thunk the man on the head.

The old merchant turned his face upwards and clasped his hands together in prayer. "Thank you, Kami-sama. Thank you." He whispered quickly and bowed low before straightning. Whistling a tune, the merchant held up fresh red silk and called out to the passing residents of Suna, "Silk! Beautfil silk! Selling for good price!"

* * *

**I know it took me forever to update, I'm sorry. I've just been caught up in the excitement of 'before the anime con' thrill. I hope you forgive me, I put lots of humor in this chapter and I hope it kept you laughing. Soooo will you please review and tell me what you thought? Did you enjoy it? Hate it? Want to tell me how mad you are that I haven't updated in forever? That you glad i'm alive? Please don't kill me. ^_-.**


	15. Am I Forgotten

Chapter 15

**XXXXXX**

Had the sky always been so bright? It seemed unreal as the azure sky glimmered, almost if it were preparing to pour it's colors upon the ground. How long had it been since his eyes had seen the outside? His rough and calloused hands touched every boulder and tree, even blades of grass and dirt as he passed. His fingers ran deftly over the different textures, remembering the feeling of life around him.

His lungs expanded to their fullest as he breathed in deeply, tasting the forest on his tongue. The spice and dew of the leaves coated his taste buds, causing his cracked lips to form into a painful smile. Deep pools of blue blinked up at the sun as he turned his face upwards, soaking in the sun and it's warmth. God how he had missed the fresh air.

As his feet staggered over the uneven earth, he stumbled and grabbed at a tree before he could crash to the ground. His eyes dulled and he blinked, trying to recover from his misstep as a sudden haze covered his vision. His body sagged against the tree from immense fatigue, malnourishment, and open wounds.

It had been a long while since he had broken free from the cavern prison he was being held in. He was not surrounded by jagged boulders and mountain ranges anymore, now different shades of green, brown, golden amber, and soft blue danced before his dizzy body. He had gone without food and water for as long as he could handle, and he knew he wouldn't last at the rate he was going now.

"S...Sa..."

Blackness pulled and tugged so gently on him, he couldn't help but acquiesce to it's call. A tired and worn body slumped against the bark of the strong tree before sliding down and falling heavily onto the soft grass beneath it. Breaths from the form came slower and slower. Lighter and lighter. Nature's creations crept out quietly from their hiding places, sniffing the air around the body. Was it alive?

**XXXXXX**

"Hayate?"

"Mm hm."

Yamato eyes looked away from the purple haired ANBU at his side to gaze back at the beautiful expanse before him. Hayate had really discovered this place? For the life of him, Yamato couldn't picture the deceased Leaf shinobi in this place. It just didn't seem to fit at all. Yugao on the other hand, the swift, deadly, strong kunoichi at his side was easy to picture in the surroundings. She just fit into the image before him like a kunai to a ninja.

"Tenzou," Yugao sighed.

The man in question stiffened at her side, not used to people calling him by his true name out in the open, besides his Senpai, Kakashi.

Her rich hazel eyes slid to him, and he could see the grief hiding in their depths. "Hayate and I used to come here often, when things were getting too rough on the outside. This is the one place we could relax and let go...." she trailed and he watched as she took a step foreward and gestured at the place before them. "Only two souls have ever known about this place. After Hayate died, I was the only one, and now you. You can never tell anyone about this. Promise me."

Tenzou felt like a child keeping a secret from the grown-ups before her eyes turned on him again. A fire blazed deep within them and he found himself nodding solemnly to her, as if this were a life and death situation. Maybe it was, to her. After all, all the shinobi in the ANBU division knew that Yugao and Hayate had been together. A serious relationship in the works.

But they also knew that it wasn't likely it would last, they were shinobi. Tools to be used at will, and very easily thrown away. So it came as no big surprise when Hayate was pronounced dead, though it hurt in ways unable to explain, it was the cold hard truth.

A slow smile spread over Yugao's thin lips as she gazed up at Tenzou. In the back of her head Yugao felt on edge. The more cautious and careful side of her screamed at her to shut her mouth, but it was too late. She had told him about hers' and Hayate's sacred place. Though she knew she should be feeling guilty, like she betrayed her former lover, but surprisingly all she could feel was relief and butterflies in her stomach as she looked up at the brunette that stared at her with soft and understanding eyes.

Warmth tingled in her fingertips before slowly spreading up her arms and over her chest, down her legs, and to the tips of her toes. After Hayate had passed, her fellow shinobi would lecture her on closing her feelings off, and steeling her heart so when deaths happened, it wouldn't hurt as bad. But at the price of becoming nothing but a shell of a human? That wasn't any way to live.

It worried her though, that the feelings she thought had been long buried away, were surfacing. Come up faster and faster, blooming inside her chest at lightning speed as Tenzou's warm eyes gazed down at her.

And as he spoke, Yugao felt herself plummet downward into the excitment and whirlwind of emotions and feelings that awaited her melting heart. "I promise you, Yugao. It's our secret."

**XXXXXX**

Tsunade took a quick swig from her sake bottle as she read over the latest reports that had been delievered to her station just a few hours prior. Flipping through them, nothing seemed to pop out as 'life or death' important. That was good. Or possibly reason for concern.

The blonde Hokage sighed in frustration. If something bad was going to happen - which was unevitable seeing as how she won the lottery, five times over - then noise of some kind of happening would have been reported to her by now. Then again, she hadn't sent out anyone in case it hit the village directly. But the returning shinobi would surely have knews if a situation was brewing on the horizon...

That was depending on how, not only the perceptivness of Konoha shinobi, but the slyness of whatever was building. If this thing was too slippery for them to catch wind of until it was too late, what would she do? How would anyone be prepared for something that sprung suprisingly from the shadows, undetectable and dangerous.

With a growl, her hand whipped out to yank the sake to her for another swallow. Half way to her waiting lips, the door slammed open and took the woman by surprise. With a start, the bottle dropped from her hands and clattered to the floor and crashed into tiny shards and puddles of alchohol.

"We have something to discuss, Tsunade-sama!"

Burning hazel eyes cut to the intruders into her office and reasons for her lost drink. Anko.

The spiky haired kunoichi smiled broadly at the blonde and placed her hands on hips. She cocked her head to the side as four others trumped in after her, looking wary and on edge. Aside from the famous Copy Ninja, who milled off to the side and regarded everyone lazily as he flipped open his smut-filled book.

Tsunade rolled her eyes at the group and fixed them with an infuriating look. Shizune, Tsunade noted with mild surprise at being there, shifted her weight from one foot to the other and laughed nervously while Raidou at her side gulped audibly. Genma bobbed his senbon on his bottom lip and nodded to the Hokage before sliding easily out of her gaze and behind his fellow scarred jounin, Raidou.

"Anko, this had better be important." Tsunade snapped as she bent over and threw a spare rag over the broken glass and spilt liquid. As she straightned in her chair, her gaze swept over the room of shinobi before settling on the oddly dressed kunoichi. Tsunade vaguely wondered where her usual attire had disappeared to.

Anko nodded, smirking. "Oh, it's important, alright. We have a proposition for you." she waved one hand at the other occupants.

Tsunade leaned back in her chair as her elbows rested on the arms of the piece of furniture and her capable hands clenched together in front of her busy chest. "Really now," she drawled sarcastically. "Enlighten me, then."

Anko grinned cheekily. "We want to be sent out as a back-up scout team." she said clearly. "If something is about to happen from what I learned at our last meeting, then I think the best play of action would be to send out a few ANBU and then send us out as the back-up."

Tsunade remained quiet, and Anko narrowed her eyes on the woman in curiousity.

"The ANBU can head one way, and we can head the other after a few days. That way we can cover the east and west sides of Fire country." Anko continued. "We'd be supplied with messenger birds, to keep you updated on our progress."

Kakashi peeked over his book at the blonde Hokage with a blank look. On the inside he was wary and calculating her reaction carefully. Why wasn't she saying anything? He would have thought that by now she would have blown up on them. Or at least laughed at the request.

Come to think of it, she wasn't as upset as she should have been at the destruction of her sake. Was something troubling her that she didn't want to share with them?

"Tsunade-sama...."

Kakashi's one exposed eye skimmed over a quiet, and on edge, Anko, to gaze at Shizune. The assistant stepped foreward and bowed to Tsunade before clasping her hands in front of her. "I agree with Anko on the request for this mission."

Tsunade only blinked, and Shizune caught the calculating look that flashed behind her hazel eyes. She swallowed thickly at her slightly uneasy expression. Something was wrong.

The medic nin gazed at her closest friend questioningly, but Tsunade gave a hand gesture for her to continue.

"Anko has thought out the plans throughly, and has chosen us because of our ablities," she continued. "We will easily be able to strategize and fight beside each other comfortably."

"And in actuallity, none of us really like the idea of being out of commission indefinatly when something could be coming at the village." Genma sighed from the back of the room before stepping up to regard the Hokage respectfully. "We're shinobi of the Leaf. We're here to protect our home."

Raidou grunted and nodded in agreement. If there was one thing he was sure of, it was that he would gladly lay his life on the line to protect the village he had grown up in.

Anko stood ram rod straight, uncomfortable by the Hokage's silence. Where had the quick tempered blonde gone? It wasn't natural for her to be so silent, unless something was terribly wrong. The kunoichi could feel it in the air, and sensed the other ninja in the room tensing as they felt it too.

Tsunade sighed and leaned foreward on her desk. To Kakashi, she looked tired, battleworn. It must be hard sending some of the finest shinobi out of the village, possibly into harms' way. But it was necessary, and she knew it. They all knew it.

Lifting her head up, Tsunade stared at Anko with hard eyes. "I'll have the scroll written by tomorrow. The ANBU team will be dispatched by then. You will head out the next day. Dismissed."

The team snapped to attention and yelled 'Hai!' before turning and heading for the door. Kakashi glanced over his shoulder at the contemplative look on Tsunade's face before he sauntered out the door. Anko paused at the archway and turned back to the Hokage as the others filed out.

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama." she said, a blank expression on her face.

Tsunade nodded slowly. "Don't dissapoint me, Anko. Or I _will_ put on commission. For a year." she threatned, but Anko clearly saw the humor underneath and felt slightly relieved.

A teasing grin spread her lips and she tilted her head. "We both know what would become of the village if that happened." she said as she walked out of the office and closed the door with a _'thunk'_.

Tsunade stared at the wooden structure for a few moments more before standing from her chair and cleaning up the broken mess of her sake. She growled low under breath as she threw it into the trash bin and pulled out a fresh bottle from her desk. If Shizune were in here, she deffinatly would have taken the bottle away.

As she tipped the bottle and swallowed a few gulps, she rubbed her temples and spoke to the air around her, "That woman is a spitfire."

**XXXXXX**

Kankurou finished putting the last seals on his scrolls before standing from the floor of his living room and stretching his arms over his head. A few pops echoed around the empty room and he yawned widely. He blinked, dragging a hand down his newly washed face and stared out the window of his apartment. It was pretty late by now, maybe 10 o'clock if his internal clock was right.

The brunette walked across the flat to the kitchenette and grabbed an apple from the counter. It was a rare delicacy to find the delicious fruit in the desert, and they didn't come cheap, but the taste was always worth the spent money in the end.

As he bit into the flesh of the apple and chewed slowly, savoring the juicy taste, he remembered that he had had something planned for this afternoon after the meeting with Gaara about dispatching in the morning. His dark eyes narrowed as he tried to recall just what it had been.

"Shit." he cursed softly after he swallowed. A date. He had a date this afternoon.

Rubbing his bare chest absently he finished off the small fruit and tossed the core into the near-by trash bin. It didn't matter much, he thought, it was just another easy girl wanting to get close to Gaara. Really, it was no harm done in the end. Aside from the girl most likely getting dissapointed about not being able to see the Kazekage, but that didn't affect him much.

If he really desired to bed a woman, or any type of female companionship, all he really had to do was walk outside. He knew the women in Suna didn't go with him just because they found they enjoyed his company, it was no secret to him or anyone they only wanted one thing. To be with Gaara. But that didn't matter because he was after only one thing, too, when having the urge to seek on of the easy females out. To relieve stress.

He had more one night stands than one would be considered healthy, leaving the home of the sleazy girls either late at night or earlier morning, and Temari made it a point to jump him about it every chance the subject came up. He knew what he was doing, but he was a man, he had needs, and waiting around for the perfect girl to show up wasn't cutting it. She wasn't going to show in his lifetime, his brother was the Kazekage and he was a shinobi, simple as that.

So settling for the fangirls that were willing fuck buddies was good enough for him. Besides, both parties knew it was nothing serious and didn't expect it to turn into something more than that. Mutual on both sides.

Kankurou yawned again and made his way to his room where he lazily crashed on the futon and rolled over to get some sleep before making a three day trip to Konoha. He groaned at the thought of being away from home for an extended period of time. From the way Gaara was acting, it seemed serious, and that meant a while in the Leaf village.

It wouldn't be too hard to find a sparring partner there, from what he could remember of that village they had a handful of energetic shinobi. At least there was something to occupy his free time, which he would most likely have plenty of.

A few minutes later found the roughned Sand ninja, his sheet pulled part-way up his toned, tanned chest, breathing deeply as he slept.

**XXXXXX**

Dark eyes appraised the rock formations around him. The first signs of returning to his village. Trees and grass ceased to be anywhere near him, and he outright laughed at his accomplishment. He had the scroll, he had completed his mission, and he was heading to the Tsuchikage to earn his well-deserved praise.

The sweet taste of accomplishment coated Kiken's tongue and his cackle of pure glee echoed around him. It wouldn't be long before every Hidden Village would be under Iwa's rule. It would be a wonderful victory for the Tsuchikage when that day finally arrived. And the best part of it was, they would easily be caught by surprise. Completely blindsided.

* * *

**Please review, I'm getting into such a big writer's block this isn't funny. I want to put a bullet through the plot bunnies, but they just keep HOPPING EVERYWHERE! I know, it's sad that there was no Gaara in this chapter, but don't worry, he'll be in the next one. In this chapter though we get a look at what it's like to be the Kazekage's brother. Poor Kankurou, but don't worry. (Kiken cackle) I have a plan for little Kanky-kun. ^_- . You guys thought I forgot about bastard Kiken didn't you? I didn't! Okay......maybe I did, but not for long. Hehehe, he's back and he's EVIL! Things are starting to pick up aren't they? This is gonna be gooooooood. I hope you enjoyed this! **


	16. Nightmares Haunt

Chapter 16

**XXXXXX**

The sun peaked softly over the rock formations surrounding the Hidden Sand Village. Kankurou yawned loudly, his jaw popping form the action, and ran a calloused hand through his tousled brown hair. Matsuri stretched next to him, holding his head gear in one of her hands as she bent slightly backwards to relieve some of the tension in her back. Kankurou smirked as he plucked his hat from her hands and settled it on his head. Her onyx eyes glanced up at it before settling on the city to her left. It was just beginning to wake up.

"You know, kind of odd that we're the first ones here...." Kankurou trailed and looked around him, frowning.

Matsuri nodded at his side and shifted her pack on her shoulders. "I would have that Gaara-sama would be here before anyone."

"Or at least Temari,"

Matsuri scratched her cheek and shuffled her feet in the sand absently. "Do you think something came up?"

"We would have been notified." Kankurou answered, shaking his head. "Maybe they're just running a little late."

Matsuri couldn't shake the nagging feeling of dread that settled coldly in her stomach. This just wasn't like any of them, they should have been here already. What if they were in trouble? What if someone, or something, was attacking the village and they were too far away to help?

"Yeah..." she said quietly, her eyes scanning the village before settling on the Kage tower. Her dark eyes shined brightly with worry and anxiety as Kankurou followed her gaze. His eyes hardened as his fingers flexed.

_Gaara...._

**XXXXXX**

"Tsunade-sama?"

Tsunade glanced over her shoulder at the extra person in her office. "Yes?"

"A message bird just arrived from Shikamaru. He says he is bringing a team from Sand to meet with you."

Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temples. "It must just be Temari about the upcoming Chuunin exams. Maybe a few of the genin, too, to show them how the tests work." she muttered to herself. She stretched her arms over her head and gave a satisfied grunt when her joints popped.

Tsunade waved a dissmisive hand absently to the messenger at the door. If Shikamaru was bringing Temari and a few genin, she would have to get paperwork ready. Her hands shuffled over the papers, searching for the Chuunin files, when she paused and locked eyes with the messenger at the door.

"You can go now, I need to-" She started, but the messenger quickly cut her off.

"It isn't a genin team for the Chuunin exams, Tsunade-sama. He is bringing the Kazekage with him. His message said it was urgent."

Tsunade felt the blood in her veins ice over.

**XXXXXX**

Yamato stared at the empty walls of his apartment. Night was approaching fast and he didn't want to go to sleep. He and Yugao had parted ways hours ago after leaving the beautiful spot tucked in the woods. She seemed genuinely happy that he had been there for her to share it with, and he in turn felt the same. It felt...nice to have someone enjoy his presence like that. Refreshing to know that he could still be counted as one of the 'normal' beings in the village.

With a quiet sigh, he rolled over on his stomach and buried his head into the pillow, forcing himself to seek out sleep and relax his body from the day. He almost cheered when sleep dragged at him, but refused to make any movements that would keep him up. Before long, he had slipped completely under the surface and was drifting serenly in his dreams.

It was the first night he dreamed of Yugao.

She was standing at the edge of a cliff, in a flowing black dress that whipped around her bare ankles in the freezing wind. He wasn't actually aware of the biting cold, but when he looked down at his hands, they were shaking, his body trembling and puffs of vapor were forming in front of his face with every breath. But despite the cold world around them, his eyes traveled to the land below the cliff they stood upon.

An all consuming fire raged, roaring and screaming it's anger and resentment to the world he was trapped within. He could do nothing but stare. His black eyes glinted and sparked with the flames as they licked over the earth, snatching at any piece of life in reach before smothering it with the heat and smoke. Death. It was the only thing that could fit with the scene before him.

Everything was dying, and he could only watch.

"The stars are crying. The winds are weeping,"

His eyes tore away from the sight and stared bewilderedly at the woman ahead of him. Her hair blew violently in the wind in a captivating dance with the blackness of the dress she wore. Her hands slowly came behind her back and tangled together as she took a step closer to the drop off of the cliff. Yamato immediatly stepped foreward, a cry of fear and warning passing through his lips only to be lost in the wild winds.

Yugao's head tilted to the side, one of her gleaming hazel eyes coming to rest upon his stumbling form. A smile curved her full lips, her body turning toward him slightly. "I would rather die for someone than live an empty life for no one," she whispered. "Could you live for me?"

He was running.

Like a madman he was running at her, his heart pounding against his ribs chaotically as fear drove through his veins. The fire snarled and its roaring increased, searing his ears and dragging his own yell from deep within his chest. Yugao continued to smile softly at him, showing no reaction to anything, just a quiet, knowing smile as he desperatly sprinted at her.

When he was almost to her, she turned away from him, and a heavy weight settled upon his chest. He knew what she was about to do. He _knew. _There was no way to change it, but he still strove to save her from leaping.

He was too late.

She spread her arms, and for split second he thought he saw beautiful dove white wings stretch from her back before they faded just as fast as they had appeared. The wind around them, once screaming with a vengeance, now stopped completely, and the silence was deafening. It was as if everything was far, far away and time had slowed as he watched her lean foreward.

His body refused to move faster, no matter how hard he pushed it, and he yelled again pathetically. As if it could change anything of the outcome.

She leaped gracefully from the edge, flying, as she fell away from him and he felt himself crumple to the ground in a heap of remorse, confusion, anger, and a pain so intense in his chest he thought he was dying. The noise around him roared into his ears once more, rising to a cresendo that had him cringing into the dry earth. Hot, coursing tears tracked themselves down his smoke smudged cheeks and his body became numb. Nothing could compare to the pain stabbing his chest.

_Could you live for me?_

Yamato's eyes snapped open, his breathing hard and ragged as he stared wide eyed up at the water-stained ceiling above his small bed. Sweat coated his body, and he began shivering violently from the chill in the room. The covers were gone from his bed, tangled on the floor in a twisted pile of fabric with his pillow strewn carelessly off to the side.

Shakily he rose to a sitting position on his mattress and looked at his trembling hands as he held them in front of his face. It had been a dream, only a dream.

That didn't make it any less real in his head.

Yamato sighed heavily before dragging himself from the sweat soaked sheets and crossing to his bathroom. Once the hot water was fully on, he stepped into the scalding water spray and fought off the urge tooth and nail to not yell and jump back out of the shower. His skin burned and stung at the temperature, but he refused to let off the heat. It was doing exactly what he wanted it to do, distract him and keep his thoughts away from the dream.

If he thought too much into it, he might overthink what he had felt when he ran at her. That need, that desperate, all-consuming need to hold her in his arms and touch her. Yamato leaned into the water, resting one hand against the tiles under the nozzle. His eyes shut tightly as his teeth grinded together, pushing out the thoughts and trying in vain to ignore his flaming skin. Her face flashed before his closed eyelids and he groaned heavily before slamming his closed fists on the tiles and leaning on the cool ceramic.

He never could get her completely out of his thoughts.

**XXXXXX**

"Pass me that pouch, no the one in the corner. On your left. Your _other _left!"

Kakashi rolled his eye before tossing an empty hip pouch across the room to the spikey haired kunoichi currently sitting cross legged on his floor. Her almond eyes brightened as she caught the pouch and immediatly began stuffing supplies into it's space.

He really didn't understand how it had come to be that she was staying in his humble abode once again, only that she had waltzed in like she owned the place and began preparing for a trip that was a full day away. Of course he had tried to suggest her going home, but at the sharp look of her eyes and the dangerous grin upon her lips that exposed her glinting teeth, he had tactfully changed the subject to the mission. At which she got very animated on her plannings and preparations.

The silver haired jounin also couldn't understand why she was so giddy about leaving on an extended mission, hadn't she just returned from a mission a few days prior? Could she possibly adore the ninja path so much that she was willing to go every day away from home? It made no sense to Kakashi, though on some level he supposed he could understand a small bit. He had his moments when he wanted nothing more than to break from the walls of Konoha and keep his mind off of pressing thoughts - personal memories - out of his head. The strategies and tactics would always smother out his brooding.

That and the constant threat of losing his life.

Anko stretched her arms over her head satisfactorly after having finished packing a few rolls of bandages into the pouch, next to her stash of perishable dumblings and two sticks of strawberry dango for the road. Kakashi chuckled at her choice of nutrition, having been able to smell them with his enhanced senses, before yawning behind his mask.

Anko glanced over at him as she relaxed her shoulders, cocking her head to the side. "Tired? Is it that late already?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Late enough to want to sleep, maybe around two o'clock."

"Time sure does fly when your having fun," she grinned hugely before standing from the floor. "Well, then we should get to sleep!"

Kakashi crossed his arms over his chest. "Good idea."

He pinned her with a stare, interrogating her with his gaze and posture and challenging her for her next words. Would she go home? He missed his bed and the silence in his apartment. He missed being the only one in the small space. Even his nin dogs missed being free at night. But, then again, she sure did spice up things. His home seemed brighter now, and a bitterness coated his tongue at the thought of her leaving.

Anko smirked and put her hands on her hips. "The bed's mine, Hatake."

Kakashi smiled under his mask as he shook his head. "You had it last night."

"And?"

"It's mine, Mitarashi."

She barked a laugh and stood toe to toe with him, her eyes glinting happily. "Oh, sure, it's _your's _alright, but _I _am sleeping in it tonight."

Kakashi rolled his eye. "A gentleman would let you take the bed, I suppose..." he trailed off slowly. Before Anko could react, Kakashi flash-stepped to his bedroom door and grasped the knob in his head. A wicked smile played on his lips as he watched Anko's eyes widen before she spun on her heel and glared at him.

"Kakashi! You cheater!" she said heatedly, though he could see the humour lacing through her tone.

"And that is precisely why I am no gentleman, Anko." He winked and dipped his head to her before slipping into his bedroom and effectively cutting off the kunoich in his living room mid-rant. Flexings his arms over his sliver head, Kakashi shrugged off his shirt and pants - slipping into a more comfortable pair - before stretching over his mattress with a grunt of satisfaction.

Within a span of five minutes, he was fast asleep.

**XXXXXX**

"I'm just saying, you could've sent out a genin to let us know you were going to be late. Matsuri was out of her mind with worry, you know."

Matsuri narrowed her eyes at the older Sabaku walking in front of her next to the Kazekage. She hadn't been _that _worried, granted she had bitten all her nails to the quick - which wasn't saying much since they weren't much longer than that anyway - but that was beside the point. _Kankurou _had been the one that was pacing and cursing for a full ten minutes while spewing out all the most horrible of possiblities that could have been occuring to his brother at that moment.

That had been what had driven her mad with anxiety.

"I didn't expect you to be there so early," Gaara replied, not breaking stride or eye contact with the desert stretching before them illuminated by the moon's luminous glow.

Temari smirked, nodding while she looked over her shoulder at her brothers. "Exactly, usually you're always late, so you can't get pissed because we were delayed. Shikamaru had to send a messenger bird to the Hokage in case of casualties during our trip."

Kankurou grumbled under his breath as he glanced around them, groaning as he watched the last rays of the sun completely die out over the horizon and the night embrace the desert like a familiar blanket. "Did you really have to be delayed _all _day?!"

"It was a long message." Shikamaru drawled lazily. Kankurou glared at his back and with a flick of his wrist, two thin strands of chakra attached themselves to the Leaf shinobi's ankles and gave a sharp tug. At the feel of cool chakra embracing his appendages, Shikamaru in turn did a quick succession of hand signs.

As Shikamaru was tripped by the chakra strings, his shadow manipulation jutsu latched onto Kankurou's barely visible shadow and forced him to follow him onto the ground in a tumbled heap. Matsuri sidestepped the two bodies and rolled her eyes before trotting to catch up with Temari and Gaara who were also leaving the two in the sand.

"Was it really that long of a message?" she asked quietly, glancing up at the powerful man at her side with bold eyes.

He shrugged indifferently. "Depending on how you look at it, I suppose."

Matsuri cracked a smile. "Then it wasn't long at all, but just in case you waited on a reply."

Gaara grunted his assent, not really worrying on whether he could trust her or not. She was his former student after all. Aside from Temari and Kankurou, she was someone he trusted fully and would easily give his life for. He didn't dwell on it any longer, knowing that if he did, he would eventually be admitting to himself that though he felt deeply for his siblings, what he felt for Matsuri ran far deeper.

The blonde fan weilder sighed loudly and halted, turning to fix the two figures lagging behind with a sharp look and hands on her hips. "Would you two come on? We have somewhere to be!"

Kankurou shrugged from the ground and dusted the sand from his shoulders and pants. "It wasn't my fault the little git decided to trip."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered under his breath as he got to his own feet and caught up with the group. As Temari and Kankurou began bickering in his ear, Shikamaru started wondering just what he had done this time to deserve such punishment.

**XXXXXX**

Kakashi was awake the moment the door creaked open, his senses on high alert as his focus spread around the room to assess any possible threats. Though his eyes remained closed and not one muscle twitched as he lay on his side, he was wide awake and carefully searching out what was coming through his bedroom door, padding across his floor, and crawling into the bed beside him.

Her smell hit him in the face fiercely, saturating his sensitive nose with the scent of jasmine and the sweet smell of rain. Still, he didn't move, though he knew he probably should have. His curiousity, however, overpowered him and he stayed quiet.

Kakashi's arm twitched as cautious hands encircled his bicep and lifted it to settle over a warm body. His other arm that was previously bent at the elbow and warmly fit under his pillow was now pulled out from it's comfortable position to be used as a headrest for the woman beside him. Legs pushed against his and he only just stopped himself from snapping his eyes open as she squeezed one of her legs between his and hooked it around it.

She wore nothing on her legs, he discovered, by feeling only smooth skin rubbing against him through his pants.

His body warmed immediatly as her body was pressed fully against him, and he found it odd that she was getting so close to him. It was like she was trying to melt into him and he really didn't know how to handle it, aside from just wrap her in his arms. Of course he wouldn't push her away, he could never do that.

It felt nice to have a woman's body against him, the feeling was euphoric, especially after so long a time without company.

Odd though, that this feeling he was getting - the familiar itch and crave for female companionship - was coming from this woman in particular. Someone he would never have imagined himself laying in bed with, though he wouldn't deny the thought hadn't entered his mind. And he wasn't the only one, either.

Kakashi felt her hands spread out over his chest between them, and he quietly sucked in a sharp breath, trying desperatly not to pin her beneath him. It was in the next moment that his body froze completely and cold shiver raced down his spine. Her lips pressed against his collar bone, and Kakashi felt his fingers tighten reflexively on her hip.

She didn't seem to notice, and he was grateful for it.

The silence that had encased them shattered as her soft voice spoke in nothing more than a whisper against his cool skin.

"...Keep the nightmares away..."

Kakashi was silent for a very long time, barely daring to breathe, before he was positive she was alseep. Only then did he dare crack open his eyes and fix her with his mismatched gaze. Her spiky hair was even more mussed than usual from rolling around on the couch and then crawling into bed with him, and she still wore his shirt.

He lifted the hand that was around her body, pausing when she shifted and wrinkled her nose, before trailing his fingers from her temple to her jaw. Nightmares, huh? Would she ever accept help from him when he was conscious? She was just too prideful sometimes.

With a sigh, he slowly wrapped his arm more securely around her after only a seconds' hesitation. Pulling her in close he tucked her head under his chin and nuzzled his nose into her hair. His dark eyes looked out at the moon and he prayed quietly that when she awoke in the morning - if she awoke before him, that is - that she wouldn't kill him for holding her so close and intimately to his self.

* * *

_ I know it's been a while and I'm not going to give pathetic excuses. I had plenty of time to update here and there before three weeks ago, I won't lie. During the last three weeks I truly was on vacation without my computer though and I couldn't update. I did write, however. Maybe not as much as I should, but I wanted to spend time with my family. I promise things will be getting updated faster now that I am back, I will not go so long without updating. But you have to understand, I am in the middle of moving, school is starting, my mother is going through a divorce and I am struggling to hold my broken family together. So if it takes awhile, please just be patient and I will update as soon as I can. Review please, just don't be mad at me for taking forever to write another chapter. I am so sorry._


	17. I Can Feel You

_This chapter is dedicated to LivesIn2D! Thank you for being such an awesome person!!!!! Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 17

**XXXXXX**

"He turned traitor, did he? Hm, what a shame. I was going to put his skills to good use once we gained Sand."

Kiken swallowed nervously but gave no outer sign of his anxiety. Faced with the Tsuchikage was intimidating enough, but to come toe to toe with him immediatly after arriving when he had just ordered yet another six death penalties was waning on his straight faced facade. In all honesty, he just wanted to go home and rest. Hadn't he earned it?

"Hai, Tsuchikage-sama. Bakudan was planning to retreat and inform the villages of your intentions."

The powerful man before him made a show of sighing and shaking his head in disappointment, though Kiken could see the menacing humor bleeding into his movements. "Well we can't have that, now can we? No, that wouldn't do." He smiled then and fixed his glittering grey eyes on the ninja before him. "But you stayed true to me, didn't you, Kiken? What a valuable shinobi you are to me."

Kiken felt his chest swell with pride.

"So loyal and devoted to me. If half my men were like you, I would have ruled long ago."

The Tsuchikage stepped down from his thrown and stood before the travel worn shinobi. Taking the scroll from him, he patted him gently on the shoulder with a smile. If only Kiken had known how much of a snake his leader was. How much of a coniving and evil man he truly was destined to be. But he didn't, couldn't fathom that his villages' leader could be anything but almighty and perfect. Harsh, yes, but it was all toward the overthrow of the other villages in which theirs would be the most powerful.

It would be better this way. That's what he believed, but how wrong he was.

"But I can't have anyone finding out about this mission. It would be bad for my reputation for the village to discover their Kage was smuggling maps from hidden villages for his own gain." He smiled serenely, and Kiken felt his heart stutter with fear.

Shaking his head, the shinobi promised under oath of the village of the Kage himself he wouldn't breathe a word.

"Oh, I know you won't, dear Kiken. I know you won't."

"Then why - "

"Am I questioning you're loyalty?" He guessed, finishing Kiken's sentence for him. When he nodded, the leader ran his fingers up from Kiken's shoulder to the exposed skin of his neck. Black eyes glanced down at the hand at his throat nervously and he gulped.

"Merely because not one person can know of this. And since you are the only one, there is but a simple solution to this problem."

"But sir! I wouldn't dare speak against you!"

A sharp pain shot through Kiken's neck and he staggered backward, one hand clutching at where the Kage's hand had previously rested.

"I was...." he hacked fiercely and fell to his knees as poison rushed through his bloodstream quickly. His glassy eyes gazed up at the Kage helplessly, only to meet cold grey eyes staring at him with disdain. The sting of betrayel hurt as he finally realized that maybe Bakudan had been right all along. Maybe he should have just abandoned ship when he had the chance.

But now it was too late.

Again he coughed, this time spitting up blood onto the stone floors of the Kage tower. All he had ever been dooing was "...following orders..."

Kiken's lifeless body collapsed and the Tsuchigkage rolled his eyes at the mundane tasks he had to perform to get to the top. Signaling for a cleaning crew to clear up the mess the dead shinobi had left, he stalked back to his throne with the maps clutched tightly in his greedy fingers. It was only a matter of time now. Very soon, he would have his greatest desire. He would rule and have an endless amount of shinobi at his disposal.

He could taste the sweet victory on his tongue and, oh, how satisfying it was!

**XXXXXX**

"Do you understand that this is simply a precautionary scouting mission? I can only afford to send four of you out at one time like this, especially since tomorrow morning a back-up squad of jounins will be sent out after you."

Tsunade's hard eyes stared into each of the empty masks in turn, fixing them with her impenerturable gaze. Not one shifted.

"Though this might not seem like an important mission, I want all of you to be on high alert. Trust your instincts and follow orders down to the last word. Any questions?"

One ANBU member in a cat mask stepped forward and bowed to the Hokage. "Tsunade-sama," she recognized Yamato's voice immediatly. "Is there anything imparticular we should be on the look out for?"

Tsunade steepled her fingers in front of her pursed lips. "Be wary of travelers or any shinobi from a different village. Anyone traveling alone, you avoid and keep a close eye on if they seem to be following you. The point of the mission is to look for suspicous behaviour."

Yamato stepped back into line, not uttering another word. As Tsunade straightened in her seat and prepared to dismiss them, the only female of the group stepped forward and bowed.

"Hokage-sama, with all do respect, sending out a team of ANBU soley on the impulse of... of suspicious behaviour does not seem very logical."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes on the long, purple-haired kunoichi. "A kunoichi will always follow orders, Yugao."

The woman stiffened but refused to step back. "A Hokage will not keep certain secrets, ones like this, from the very shinobi hired to protect the village. We deserve to know what we are protecting it from. You can not just send us out blindly."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow as the other ANBU members stared through their expressionless and blank masks at the woman between them. She was crazy to insult the Hokage like that. It was unacceptable and rude, not to be tolerated by someone as high a rank as Yugao. She should know better. Yet here she was staring down the Hokage defiantely and demanding an answer.

Sighing, the blonde Hokage stood and fixed them all with a hard stare. "I am sending you out based on my intuition. If you haven't learned to trust me yet after all these years, then I suggest you turn in your resignation effective immediately."

The tension in the room was thick enough to choke a person.

Yugao hesitated, considering speaking again before dropping the thought and bowing stiffly to the Hokage and stepping back in line. At her dismissal they disappeared, immediatly leaving the blonde to her own thoughts.

Sitting back down at her desk, Tsunade sighed heavily and stared down at the clean wood of the stable structure. It was her duty as the Hokage to protect the village and its' people. She had to do whatever was necessary to keep them safe. But it was _damn _hard to do that when you were just acting on nothing more than a bad feeling. Though she knew it was right, something told her not everyone else would see it that way.

The ANBU members would follow her orders faithfully, but that didn't mean they didn't doubt her. She doubted herself. There was no solid evidence to base her intuition off of. It was just her logical instincts and she would heed them rightly. After all, every born shinobi and kuniochi are repeatedly lectured and having the lesson beaten into them to never, under any circumstances, second guess your instincts. They are your lifeline.

Tsunade rubbed her temples and shut her eyes tightly. It was obvious to her that something was brewing in the near future and was going to overtake them. And soon. But _what?_ What was going to happen, who was going to do it, and what is the reason for it all? These were the questions that were continuously and painfully pounding themselves against her skull, giving her a headache that set her teeth on edge.

Wretching open one of the drawers on her desk, Tsunade pulled out a half-empty bottle of sake and a small shot glass. The next few minutes were spent with her deftly filling her glass one after the other as she bent - frustrated - over the paperwork on her desk whilst planning and strategizing over the possible outcomes of Konoha's future and how to counter act any harsh attacks against them.

**XXXXXX**

"That was careless, Yugao."

The purple haired kunoichi pointedly ignored the man at her side. His bear mask stared blankly at her as they jumped from branch to branch that led them further and further from the village. Her skin crawled as his eyes refused to look away from her. Finally, fed up with his staring, she abruptly halted and whipped off her mask. Her warm honey eyes blazed and sparked at the man that had been lecturing her since they exited the Hokage building.

The rest of the ANBU team paused next to them, watching quietly as their teammates glared at one another. Slowly, the man pulled off his own bear mask and narrowed his eyes on the younger woman.

"You should have shown more respect."

"I know that!" she snapped, taking a step toward him. "Don't you think I know that?! She's the Hokage, I get it, okay! But sending us out just because she has a feeling doesn't make any sense! I was simply telling her so!"

The older ANBU crossed his arms over his chest, pinning his grey eyes on Yugao. "You're young and have a lot to learn."

Yugao glared harshly at the man. "And you're old, you think you know it all."

His lips formed a thin line. "Know your place, woman."

"Know your's, old man. I'm second in command of this squad under Tenzou, you _will _follow my orders or you will leave. Now fall back."

"That order can only be passed through the Captain."

A rustling broke them momentarily from their heated glares as a body landed soundlessly between them. A calm and warm voice spoke from behind a glinting porcilean mask. "We can't waste time, move out."

At the Captain's words, the members forgot their quarrel for the moment and lept back into the trees, heading toward the border with silent precision. After an extended amount of time, Tenzou fell back a few paces and matched his stride with Yugao, who had her mask tied to the side of her head. He was reminded of how his senpai used to wear his mask like that and almost smiled.

"He had a point."

Yugao sighed and looked at her feet as they leapt onward. "I know," she admitted reluctantly. "But you know you felt the same way, I was just the one that said it."

He nodded and untied his own mask and let it slip around his neck. "I did. But maybe sometimes it's better to let things alone."

"So you're saying that you would have gone out here, not knowing what we were being sent out for, just because Tsunade said so?"

"I would, because I am a tool at her disposal. A shinobi will always follow the Hokage's demands because it is what's best for the village."

"That's bull and you know it."

Yamato turned to her in surprise. Her piercing eyes locked on him.

"You, of all people, should know better. You worked with Kakashi for chrissake! I know for a fact he told you that we are not _only tools_." she said, her nose wrinkling in disgust on her last words.

A small smile played on his lips and he looked ahead of them. "He taught me many things."

"I know that in a way I was wrong to call out Tsunade like that, but I was right in demanding an answer. She isn't a cold hearted leader so she will give us legitimate reasons, which she did. In her own way."

Yamato reached out and squeezed Yugao's shoulder gently. "Roku was wrong, you don't have much to learn. You have much to teach."

As she watched her Captain speed up and lead the group toward their scouting posts, Yugao tied back on her mask to hide the blush that was creeping over her cheeks and warming them to a bright pink. Her shoulder tingled where he had touched her, and it took several minutes for her to get her mind back on the task at hand.

She could already tell this was going to be a long and difficult mission mentally and physically. And not just because they were scouting for the unknown, but because she could feel butterflies fluttering frantically in her stomach.

Yugao sighed heavily. It was going to be a very, _very_ long mission.

**XXXXXX**

Anko did not want to wake up the following morning. She had never been so at ease, so comfortable, at any point in her life and it was too good to give up so soon. And it was so warm and safe in this place, it made her feel like - if she felt the urge - she could get up and stretch like a lazy cat. It left a soft smile tugging on her tired lips and fingers curling into small, relaxed fists. There had been no nightmares that night and it seemed like a miracle. It was peaceful.

But, to her dismay, she began to wake up in the early hours of the morning despite her many attempts at forcing herself to fall back asleep. She was not quite ready to let go of the bliss she had discovered during the night and groaned helplessly. It was at that moment that Anko realized she was not where she had orginally thought she was when a very solid and very _there _body shifted beneath her own.

It had not registered to Anko that she wasn't in her own bed, since upon waking she was too groggy to comprehend she had spent the last couple of nights with Kakashi. She was used to waking up at her own home and following her own routine, not finding herself wrapped up in the arms of a man in a strange place.

Anko was splayed on top of him.

She almost bolted and attacked, but something stopped her just in time and she slowly relaxed. His smell, strong and safe, seemed to be physically caressing her skin and lulling her tense body to calm. The scent was warm and the only word that she could find to even begin to describe it after contemplating it for a few moments was woodsy. He smelled like he had run for hours and hours in the woods and rolled around on the forest floor. But it was so alluring she found herself fighting back the urge to press her nose into his skin and breathe him in.

She did, however, situate her legs so that they were falling on either side of his own and pressed herself more fully against him. It was hard not to allow her yearnings to have full reign, the need to just give herself over to him seemed to have taken control of her and it was gnawing at her insides. What could it hurt?

Anko mentally shrugged. It could ruin the relationship that they already had, but it was his fault for smelling so damn good. Yeah, she decided. It was all his fault if things soured between them.

With that last thought in mind, Anko shifted once more, slowly extending her hands to tangle her fingers through Kakash's silver locks. His fingers flexed momentarily against her waist and she wondered if in his dreams he was enjoying this. She knew she was certaintly enjoying it being awake.

Probably more than she should.

Shrugging off her worries, Anko raised her head close to his, allowing her nose to brush Kakashi's jaw from his earlobe to his chin, grinning softly at feeling the slight stubble scratch at her. Her almond eyes slipped closed and she breathed in deeply and quietly. Her stomach did an amazing flip and she forcefully had to stop herself from pressing her lips to his skin and tasting him. Instead, a heedy moan sighed almost silently from deep within her throat and her tongue danced behind her lips.

Her skin dampened in the slightest and she pressed down more fully against Kakashi, trying to release the growing tension in her body that was threatening to consume her. Her fingers curled into fists and she watched with half-lidded eyes as his neck was exposed to her. Her lips parted and she felt the blood pounding in her ears, her breath coming faster. If it hadn't been for his hands gripping into her sides as if for a lifeline, she would have snapped.

Anko blinked repeatedly, staring down at the man below her in confusion. And then anger built up in her chest and she moved away from him quickly. The needy, burning feeling that was bubbling so close to the surface only a few moments previous chilled in her viens and Anko stood abruptly from the bed and turned from the room, exiting with a cool and upset air.

Kakashi's eyes opened slowly and he stared up at the ceiling after he heard the door click into place. His chest moved imperceptibly faster and his skin seemed to be on fire. He couldn't have been more grateful for her leaving at that moment because if she had hesitated one more second, she would have seen the burning lust sparking in his mismatched eyes with an intensity that would have shook her to her core.

Kakashi heaved himself from the bed and rubbed his face, still able to feel her skin pressed to his body so intimately. To his frustration, his body had acted accordingly to her touch and he tilted his head back to glare at the ceiling with a groan.

Somehow he should have seen this coming. Maybe not this _exactly, _but this was Anko and in some form or another he should have expected her making life difficult for him in some way. Shutting his eyes closed and pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and finger, Kakashi slouched to the bathroom to relieve himself of a very..._straining..._problem.

**XXXXXX**

They had reached the woods late last night and had already set out the following morning to tramp through the forest Konoha-bound. Matsuri's wide eyes took in the view of the large trees and numerous plants around her with a childlike wonder, amazed by the fact that there could be so many. It had been a long, _long _time since she had walked through a forest and growing up in the desert limited her knowledge on plant life. She felt almost superior to the kunoichi back in the village that had yet to have this experience.

"We should be at the village by noon tomorrow, don't you think, Gaara?" Temari asked as she stretched her arms over her head and sighed tiredly.

Gaara bit back a yawn and nodded. "At the rate we're going, yes. Though if we picked up pace we might get there ahead of time."

"You can say that as much as you want, but that isn't going to make lazy boy's ankle heal up any time soon." Kankurou smirked, glancing behind him at the Leaf ninja leaning on Matsuri's shoulder - limping.

Shikamaru gave a lazy glare. "If someone wouldn't have decided to test out their chakra strings in the dark, I wouldn't be in this position."

"If someone wouldn't have been sneaking around the camp last night to sneak into another someone's sleeping bag, a certain someone wouldn't have had to use their chakra strings to stop a potential enemy." Kankurou snapped, frowning sharply.

"I told you I wasn't - "

"Oh, would you two cut it out! I've had enough of the both of you!" Temari shouted, cutting off Shikamaru mid-sentence, a slight pink blush settling over her cheeks - going unnoticed by her traveling companions. "Can't you stop arguing for five minutes!"

"No." They both answered blankly shooting quick glares at one another.

Matsuri shifted the shinobi's weight on her shoulder and mentally fumed at the schedule they abided by to pass Shikamaru around due to his injury. She knew Kankurou was purposfully giving her a longer time so that his own packing time wouldn't last long. If they had a medical ninja traveling with them, a sprained ankle would be no problem. Then again, if Shikamaru and Kankurou could just get along, they wouldn't need one in the first place and would be arriving in Konoha ahead of time.

Sighing, she trudged along behind the sand siblings while deftly avoiding any upturned stones or potholes littering the ground path.

The sun glowed softly on the path they followed as the hours went by slowly, seemingly taking forever for the day to pass. No problems occured and no further injuries delayed them, of which all were more than grateful for. However, when the sun situated itself dead center in the sky and blazed down on their shoulders scornfully, a splash of color caught Gaara's attention and he halted in the middle of the trail, numbing shock and anger that festered like an infected wound settled itself deep within his bones.

"Gaara? What's the matter?"

Matsuri's head snapped up at Kankurou's worried tone and her eyes flitted from one brother to the next. Gaara stood a few yards ahead of them, standing completely still with hands hanging limply at his sides. Kankurou was watching him carefully as Temari stepped back and surveyed the area, looking for any type of danger.

"What's going on." Shikamaru whispered quietly and Matsuri shook her head. She didn't know.

"Gaara?" Kankurou tried again, slipping his scrolls from his shoulders.

Matsuri became alarmed when Gaara suddenly sprinted away from them and kneeled down in the bushes. Thinking he was running after enemies, she released her hold on Shikamaru and drew out her kunai and bolted after him. Shikamaru - having anticipated Matsuri letting him go - leaned against a tree and formed hand signs for his jutsu.

Temari's and Kankurou's cries of alarm rang out as Matsuri leapt to Gaara's side and abruptly stopped. Not long after Matsuri dropped her weapon with a dull 'thud' did they- helping along a limping Shikamaru - come up warily beside her. Looking down at their brother crouched on the ground, a cold feeling of dread settled in the pit of their stomachs and Temari's lips formed a thin line.

Shikamaru pushed off of Kankurou, eyes wide with horror and shock and fell on the ground beside Gaara in crumpled heap. After pushing himself up from the dirt, his sharp eyes settled on the body lying under Gaara's hands. Gaara's breathing was hard and ragged, his eyes too bright, too wild. For a moment, Shikamaru was reminded of the chuunin exams those years ago when he saw the man before him for the first time. It was like being flung into the past against his will and he suddenly felt nauseous.

Gaara's fingers clenched harshly into the fabric under his hands. His chest constricted and his teeth grinded together as he managed to choke out a single word.

"Naruto - "

* * *

_So how was that? I made it a long chapter and I think it came out pretty good. Full of good stuff, I felt like. Anyway, let me know what you thought. Sorry for the long waits for updating but there is a LOT of stuff going on here on my end. Please be patient with me! Thank you for reading!_


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